


Mirage

by huashan, topkyungsoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Loss of Virginity, M/M, Mentions of drugs, Minor Kim Jongin | Kai/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Past Drug Addiction, Sex Work, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Trans Female Character, and me pretending i know anything about money and businesses, homophobic parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:34:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 39,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28978941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huashan/pseuds/huashan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/topkyungsoo/pseuds/topkyungsoo
Summary: Among strippers and chaos, Kyungsoo unexpectedly finds his oasis.[ For top!soo fest round 4: Stripper AU ]
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay
Comments: 16
Kudos: 29
Collections: top!soo fest: round 4 (2020-2021)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please read the tags.  
> this is my first time writing in more than one POV and it's so long for absolutely no reason, but i hope at least some of you will enjoy it.
> 
> Thank you to C for helping me write Nini♡ and to L for the moral support♡
> 
> not betaed

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun tapping his finger nervously.

“What did you just say?” Baekhyun’s finger pauses and he raises eyes to look at his brother, who’s sitting on the other side of his heavily decorated, wooden desk.

“The strip club in Yangpu... That’s the one I’m going to manage.” Kyungsoo repeats, not suppressing his resolute streak.

“What about the hostess club in Guangzhou? Or something in Korea? I’m sure we could find something for you there.” Baekhyun says quickly after clearing his throat, he keeps coughing nervously, as if there’s something stuck down his throat.

“Dad said the company acquired the gay club in Shanghai for me, so that’s where I’m going.” Kyungsoo’s eyes look away and focus, albeit non willingly, on the renaissance style portrait of a corgi hanging above his older brother’s face.

“He says a lot of things… Does he know you’re going today?” Baekhyun asks, deflating considerably.

“I will, as soon as I feel like it.” Kyungsoo sits up on the uncomfortable navy armchair he is occupying.

“When you feel like it?” For a moment Baekhyun lets himself seem amused, “Listen, you know dad was playing a prank on you… He didn’t really expect you to go there, he doesn’t know you’re actually...” he points at him, his gesture, his words are both vague, but the underlying message comes across just fine.

“To put it bluntly,” Kyungsoo stands up, “I don’t care what you or dad think of me. He wants me to take over the business and that’s what I’m doing... And I’m starting today, so I’ll be on my way...”

Baekhyun looks at him seriously, but the silent threat doesn’t scare Kyungsoo like it used to. He holds his gaze, then turns and walks away, paying no mind to the audible sighs coming from behind him.

His brother is making it seem far more serious than it needs to be, their dad has been nothing but encouraging no matter what path they took. Although that might have just been luck, considering that his oldest son was born to follow in his footsteps and his youngest had no particular aspiration to make him estrange from the family business.

Thinking about it, for someone as frolicky and flippant as he seems to be, he’s been successively calculative with his brother's and his life paths. Two sons, a lawyer and a business manager.

Despite his father's more accommodating habits, sometimes, to him, thinking of the  _ family business _ means never losing the chance to call Kyungsoo names, singling him out in the middle of work meetings and family dinners just to ask him when he’s going to take a girlfriend home, when he's going to show him he's not a virgin. Endless choruses of “Your brother has been married twice already, what are you waiting for?! Don’t tell me you’re  _ gay _ !”

Kyungsoo is, in fact,  _ very much a virgin _ . And _ very much gay _ .

His dad really thought he was playing the biggest prank of the decade on him, when he decided to buy a decaying, gay strip club and surprise Kyungsoo by gifting its management to him. He really thought he had pulled off such a genial scheme to make fun of him.

If only he knew the way Kyungsoo’s mood has been over the moon waiting to get his business management degree, finishing his training and finally make good use of his gift. 

After all, his brother got to work at a hostess club after finishing his law course and he brought the business to declare bankruptcy, but their dad was delighted to know he got out of it with a first wife hanging from his arm; it is only fair that Kyungsoo gets the same chance to dip his toes in their business and, who knows, maybe to find someone to hang off his arm as well. 

So, finally, Kyungsoo, twenty-five years old and fresh out of university, is ready to face the challenge he's been longing for years.

A challenge that involves flexible semi-naked men, a crowd of gay people and also, hopefully, taking one step closer to the definite loss of his virginity. 

He’s always been quite precocious, he was able to determine his nature pretty early in his teen years, but he just never got a chance to experience what all his peers have gone through eons ago. 

While everyone around him got girlfriends, intimate friends and steadily got closer to having their dick touched by hands different from their own, Kyungsoo could only sit back and watch, developing feelings for a couple of his straight friends along the way. Maybe if he had taken a leap of faith and told them, they would have accepted him, maybe they were just like him, but had the ability to push their façade to a level that Kyungsoo never felt comfortable with.

Now though, he has a golden chance in his hands, a place and a crowd of people just like him. Finally there seems to be a lot of fish in his sea as well.

Since he's found out about this particular establishment he hasn't been able to stop thinking about it, it's the only place they own that doesn't expressly target straight men or women. Kyungsoo has even visited it a couple of times, but he never worked out the courage to walk in.

For once, Kyungsoo decided to make good use of his dad's connections and offensively unfunny sense of humor and take his first step into a realm he has only dreamt about.

He presses his palm on his chest as he sits behind the wheel of his car, an attempt to soothe the thundering beating of his heart. This is a kind of excitement he hasn't experienced in years.

◊

  
  


Yixing is pulled out of his slumber by screaming, his heart is racing in his chest with the kind of excitement that only a discharge of fear and adrenaline can cause.

"Why…" he whispers to himself, getting on his feet despite the heaviness still pressing on his eyelids.

"You need to stop taking my shit!" Tao's voice resounds from the other side of Yixing's door, Yixing bumps his head against the wood and sighs.

"You're so weird, why would I ever need to steal your junk?!" Sehun's deep voice responds with a calm that makes Yixing's eyebrow tick.

"Guys, Yixing has come back home only an hour ago, he needs to sleep…" Nini whispers, Yixing is touched to hear at least one of them thinks of him, but of course it achieves nothing and soon the other two are back to screaming.

Yixing pushes his door open and glances at the three. Nini is the first one to jolt and trail back to her room, the other two stay in front of him as tall as mountains, but frozen stiff by the cold tempest in Yixing's eyes.

"Whatever is going on, I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out later, or somewhere far from me."

"Sorry." they apologize in unison and walk back to their shared room. Yixing sighs and closes his door again.

Living with three twenty-two year-olds is becoming everyday a little less fun, or maybe he is just becoming too old to treat them with the same patience he had when they first arranged this. Or it might just be that the clock signs eight thirty a.m. and he only got to get in his bed at seven.

Yixing ponders hazily as he slips back into his sheets, overjoyed to find some of the warmth he had left behind. He turns to his bedside table and opens his sleep inducing playlist, he smiles lightly as Beethoven's notes calmly fill the air.

He snuggles under the heavy layers of his covers and his eyes close, dimming down the morning light already shining from behind the blinds. 

Sleep comes back to his exhausted body soon after.

  
  


◊

  
  


At nine sharp, Kyungsoo is in front of his new workplace. His brother's words have done nothing to stop him and the Shanghai area supervisor has already given him the green light to start working in his establishment of choice.

So, here he is, walking nervously towards the unlit neon sign of  _ Mirage _ , the lone strip club in one of the most prolific gay areas of the country.

He passes a finger under the neckline of his white t-shirt, he's almost ashamed of how excited he is by the prospect of stepping into a place where people like him are welcome, actually where people like him are the most welcome. No more mentions of girls or backhanded comments about what it means to be a  _ real man _ coming from his dad and his affiliates.

Kyungsoo will make this place a source of income so big that it will have all of them seething with envy, then they'll know what a real man really is about.

"Mr. Doh?" 

A voice comes from behind him, Kyungsoo turns and finds a man he has never seen before looking at him, "Yes?" 

"I am Kim Junmyeon, we talked on the phone." His thickly accented Mandarin makes Kyungsoo instinctively respond to him using Korean.

"Yes," he pauses not knowing what to say, thankfully the man speaks again.

"It was quite surprising to hear about your interest in this old place." He nods to himself as he speaks, "No one from headquarters has ever even visited and suddenly… The son of the big boss is here." The awkward laugh reveals some of the man's nervousness, it makes Kyungsoo feel a bit better about his own.

"I think the position of the club is really favourable, I trust that with a few changes we will be able to duplicate… Or even triplicate the earnings." Kyungsoo says seriously as he grasps the shoulder straps of his backpack.

The man who had been moving to open the door suddenly turns, his stiff expression softens and he smiles earnestly, "Right?! I've been saying this for ages."

"I've seen one of your proposals in my brother's office." Kyungsoo explains, finding a bit cute the way the man has suddenly turned so chipper, 

"Oh, I never expected any of them to make it that far!" Kyungsoo willingly left out the part where he had to pick up the booklet of papers out of his brother's secretary's trash bin.

The first step inside is underwhelming, Kyungsoo can't bring himself to admit otherwise.

There’s nothing to say about the dimensions of the club, but Kyungsoo isn’t able to focus properly with the chaos reigning over every corner of the place.

“Oh sorry, we closed late yesterday so I left the cleaning for this morning.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t comment on the man’s words, but he trails a long, drawn out glance over the used glasses and napkins over the tables and scattered on the floor. Even with so much going on, though, Kyungsoo can say without a doubt that this place needs some work, from the eighty styled tile floor to the completely black walls. He takes a step forward to look at the leather seats and he’s quite disappointed to see the state they’re in, some of them stained and discoloured, others cut through deeply enough to let the yellowing stuffing show.

Renovations are in order, even though Kyungsoo isn't sure how to get the money to completely modernize the place. 

“It doesn’t happen often,” slightly more panicked the man speaks up again, “Yesterday it was the end of the weekend and today we only open at night so I thought…”

“...I understand.” Kyungsoo interjects and puts him out of his misery, but it doesn’t seem to achieve the result he had been hoping for.

“I will clean immediately, just wait for me in the office.” Mr. Kim quickly shrugs off his brown pile jacket.

“Then, let me help.” Kyungsoo mirrors his gesture drawing one of his arms out of his thick coat.

“Oh, God no! Absolutely not! There’s no need.” 

Kyungsoo stares at him completely still, calmly waiting for his panicked noises to cease. Once the man’s arms stop flailing, Kyungsoo speaks up, “Where’s the vacuum cleaner, Mr. Kim?”

Junmyeon looks at him stunned for a few seconds, “We don’t have one. Please call me Junmyeon” 

  
  


◊

  
  


The sound of rough wheels rolling over concrete filters through the piano chords playing in Yixing’s ears.

This feels like a Chopin kind of night, he thinks as the sweet notes of a Nocturne mix with the sounds of the city and the voices from the people walking quickly past him.

Yixing’s eyes naturally travel to the sky, searching for the only natural light that isn’t drowned by the luminous store signs and the myriad of other artificially powered light sources. It’s just above him, the Moon, quiet and magnanimous; a gentle round glowing of a soft yellow shade. 

Yixing could stare at it for hours on end, but the bright neon sign of the strip club sneaks in the corner of his vision, demanding his complete attention. 

“Hey, Xing!” Yixing reads Minseok's lips as he waves at him from where he's sitting by the bar. The club is still empty, the chairs are still on the tables, Yixing pulls the earbuds out of his ears, to be able to hear his colleague's voice and the beat of the song playing through the speakers.

"Hey," he smiles and lets himself go when Minseok hugs his waist without standing up "How was Chiang Mai?"

"Perfect." Minseok tilts his head back and closes his eyes, seemingly reminiscing just how perfect it was. In a flash he lets Yixing go and stands up, he pulls down the waistband of his pants and of his skimpy underwear just enough to let Yixing see the drastic tan lines he's got on himself.

"Oh, wow!" Yixing's eyes widen, "You're gonna steal everyone's clients tonight." he exaggerates his pout, but it soon turns into a tight grimace, when Minseok moves closer to hug him again.

"Don't be sad, Xingxing… I am always free to comfort you, though. You know all you have to do is ask." Minseok gets to be this filthy and unhinged with such a pretty face, he's criminally misleading.

"Don't worry, I won't ask." Yixing wiggles himself out of his hold and starts to move towards the dressing rooms.

"You're still turning me down?! At least tell me why!" Minseok follows him, by the time they reach the closed door they were aiming for, Minseok is already shirtless.

Yixing grabs the handle of the door and turns towards him "The sooner you realise why, the better it'll be for everyone." Minseok looks back at him completely lost, seemingly genuinely not knowing what Yixing is trying to hint at.

Without adding anything else, Yixing opens the door and steps inside. The familiar smell of hairspray hits him first, then the flowery scent of expired foundation and cheap body oils follow suit. Yixing smiles and nods his head at the rest of the dancers as he walks through the large corridor between the two rows of untidy vanity tables they're all sitting at.

His own personal vanity, which he's got as a gift after ten years of work, is overtaken by someone else. One look at the makeup scattered on it and he can tell just who it is.

"Nini." he tries to sound stern, but his resolve stumbles when she turns to look at him.

"Y-Yeah?" she has a guilty expression on, Yixing just looks at her without saying anything and she starts rambling on her own "I know this is your private table, but the others were all occupied and I knew you weren't-”

Yixing looks at the ceiling and sighs “I’m not angry.” She’s not a dancer so she would have the entire staff bathroom to get herself ready, but Yixing doesn’t mind, he likes having her here.

“...But,” she continues his sentence.

“But clean your mess afterwards.” He pinches her cheek, “How was work today?”

“Oh my God, I thought you found me a normal waiting job, but it was like a royal buffet, everyone was wearing luxury brands and had diamonds everywhere!” She recounts excitedly, “They gave me so much money and all I did was hold a tray and ask people if they wanted to taste the tartare,” She stands up and starts mimicking what she must have looked like a few hours before, “I had to wear a boring suit, but you can’t always win, I guess.”

Yixing adjusts a strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ear, “That’s a shame... Were they nice to you?” 

“Yeah,” she starts packing up her beat up palettes, “But even if they didn’t I wouldn’t care to be honest, they paid me enough to pay the university fees and put something aside for the top surgery!” She shares excitedly, Yixing messes with her hair before moving to the closet attached to the dressing room, he laughs out loud as he hears her complain from the other room. He continues to smile happily as he takes a look at what costume he can put together for the night.

It’s going to be a calm, uneventful Monday. Yixing is going to spend a few hours on the stage, a few in the private rooms and hopefully make it back home before dawn, nothing out of the ordinary.

“Good Evening, whores.” Yixing peeks out of the door in time to see Xiaobao walk in accompanied by the sharp clicking of his white stilettos. 

An uninterested chorus of  _ hellos _ rises from the dancers, everyone’s too busy tending to their own affairs to pay him all the attention he’s requesting. Yixing giggles under his breath as he goes back to his clothing choices.

“God, please! Calm down! You’ll make me get a heart attack!” Xiaobao says dramatically, before being interrupted by the door of their dressing room being pushed open once more.

“Stop talking and get ready, you’re the first going on stage.” Junmyeon announces, Yixing can hear the sound of the papers with the night’s shifts he’s holding in his hands.

He stops listening in their conversation and uses his own hands to rummage through his clothing options. He remembers when he started working here, just turned 19, lost and lonely in Shanghai; when the closet had inside it nothing but a small collection of fluo speedos. Now the amount and diversity has grown exponentially, but Yixing still feels the same, even when he’s on the stage, blinded by the lights bouncing off the paillettes of his fits.

“Gather up, I need to talk to you!” Yixing’s eyebrows furrow at the sound of Junmyeon’s usually quiet voice booming through the dressing room. Instead of following his orders Yixing ignores him and grabs his favourite purple shorts, there’ll be no stripping today, only teasing. It’s a Monday after all, nothing happens on Mondays.

“You’re only wearing that?” Sehun has just arrived and he’s already glaring at him, “It’s October, you know right?”

“Air conditioning exists, you know right?” Yixing sticks out his tongue at him and gets himself back on his path, he glances at his station, happy to see it void of intruders. He can still hear Nini, though, from the other side of the room arguing with Tao about seniority.

Yixing turns to look at the exchange, keeping an eye out for them has become like an instinct at this point. Tao hates sharing his space, but Nini still bugs him every day; it’s not surprising considering how close his station is to Minseok’s.

"Another Monday, uh?" Xiaobao has quickly made his way towards Yixing. From his expression, he can tell there's something he wants to tell him.

"Just like every week." Yixing smiles at him through the mirror as he starts patting foundation into his skin.

"What if I told you I know how to make it a little more exciting." his eyebrows raise on his forehead, suggesting something.

Yixing turns to look at him, knowing exactly what he is referring to. A competition of sorts, where the top earner of the night wins, "For half of your tips." 

"Half of  _ your _ tips, I see what you're wearing and I know you're gonna lose." Yixing stands up, ready to defend his choice, but Minseok speaks over him from the other side of the room.

"I'm in too." Minseok puts his hands on his hips, drawing attention to the waistband of the white jockstrap peeking out of the firefighter pants he's wearing.

Yixing and Xiaobao both turn at the same time to look at him. He's quite intimidating, Yixing has to admit, but now this has become a question of principle and he won't backtrack on his choices just because Minseok is sure he's going to steal away half of his pay.

"I'm in too!" Tao chimes in, but the older dancers shut down the idea immediately.

"No way." Yixing shakes his head and his index finger no.

"Don't even think about it." Minseok is closer to him, so he can reach out and give the back of his head a little slap, "The last thing you should be thinking about is betting your tips. You've just gotten your first regular, if you bet him against us you're losing him forever."

Slightly less tactful than how Yixing would have put it, but he's not wrong.

"I'll make sure no one cheats!" Nini raises her hand timidly, the glances she throws at Minseok's back make it obvious that she wants to be praised.

"Now, that's a great idea!" Minseok plays into it without realising. The shy happiness on Nini's face warms Yixing's chest, but can't help but worry him too.

"May the superior slut win!" Xiaobao claps his hands and disappears inside the walk-in closet.

By nine Yixing starts to be a little worried, the tables are almost all empty and only two of his regulars have arrived. To top it all off Xiaobao has walked out on the stage as if it were a Saturday, dancing like his life depended on it, completely outshining everyone else.

"Getting cold feet? Maybe you should have put more clothes on." Minseok walks past him and shoves him aside.

"Asshole." Yixing whispers under his breath and almost jumps out of his skin when someone poses their hand on his shoulder.

"Don't let them get to you, this establishment has been built on you!" Nini says as she starts massaging his shoulders. She's right, Yixing thinks and nods to himself, silently preparing to walk out.

The little pep talk he's reciting in his head is abruptly halted, when he notices Minseok walking towards Huang Lei, Yixing's first and most loyal regular. He's never had anyone other than Yixing, but Minseok is pushy enough and handsome enough to make Yixing feel threatened.

He forgoes the lazy feline walk, he likes to put on when he starts the night by walking through the tables, and beelines for Lei's table.

The pink lights aren't very helpful, but even in this penumbra he can see how flustered his client is. 

Yixing is quick and precise, landing himself perfectly on his lap.

"Good evening, Mr. Huang." Yixing whispers against his cheek and winds himself around him like he's a boa constrictor.

"Xingxing, I've been waiting for you." Yixing smiles at the words and throws a glance at Minseok who's already walking away, fake gagging. 

He's just walked in the room and he is already ahead of the race.

"Sorry, I left you alone in this den of sharks." Yixing adjusts himself to sit properly on the other man. Lei's hands brush against him only when it seems like he might lose his balance, then they move back on the black fake leather of the seats.

"You don't have to worry about me, I don't need anyone else." Yixing turns to look at him from over his shoulder. Lei is only able to see his eyes and yet his breathing has already become heavier. Making himself look sultry is like a second nature to him, these years have taught him how to seduce without raising a finger.

"I'll make sure the manager gives you a little loyalty discount for tonight's vip session." Yixing pries apart the man's legs and grinds his ass against him, he feels the skimpy piece of fabric between his legs roll and twist up obscenely.

"Or we could skip the vip room." His hands are still off him, but Lei seems closer, Yixing feels his breath everywhere on his back.

He still remembers when this kind of proposition made him stain his underwear and his heart race.

"Same hotel?" he asks, relaxing back against him, but still grinding, touching everywhere he can.

"I'll text you the room number." Huang Lei’s hand touches Yixing as he stands up, he gently poses his right hand on his palm as he makes a show out of getting his costume out of his ass crack and then turns to peck Lei's lips playfully.

He walks away calmly, scanning the dimly lit room, looking for his next prey.

Just as anticipated, the night moves on smoothly, even their competition comes to a stall after having gathered the tips from their regulars.

It’s Yixing’s turn to dance around the poles. During bets of this kind, he would make sure to gather as much money as possible from all the tables closer to the stage, but tonight it’s proving difficult with how much attention Minseok is attracting.

It had to be expected, he’s just come back from a trip after all, looking more buff and more tanned than ever before. Yixing’s sure he’s been scheduled to dance with him, to avoid the younger dancers from feeling disheartened at the sight of all the clients swarming to welcome Minseok back.

Yixing accepts the defeat on the stage gracefully and already moves on, using the time spent spinning around the poles to gaze over the crowd. It’s almost midnight and half of the tables are empty, some of them are filled with people who Yixing’s never seen before. 

As he moves to his knees to gather the few bills that were thrown at him, he notices someone sitting on the table further to his left.

Squared glasses, checkered shirt closed all the way up to the last button and intense eyes staring directly at him. The epitome of the inexperienced, easily impressionable client.

Yixing crawls towards him, taking his chance. 

He recognizes the small signs of panic overcoming his prey, the eyebrow twitch, the evading eyes, but he doesn’t relent just yet, not before talking to him.

He lies down on the edge of the stage, unknown hands reach for his thighs, slip money inside his shorts; but none of them are the ones he is looking for.

“Hi,” he gets a little closer, making sure he’ll hear him over the smooth bass of the song playing, “Can I sit with you?”

He looks much younger, but also calmer from up close, or he might just have remarkable control over his face muscles. He stares at him for moments that feel as long as hours, Yixing’s scared he’ll reject him in front of everyone, it would be a first for him and he wouldn’t know how to recover.

“Sure.” Yixing almost doesn’t hear it over the sound of his self-esteem being devoured by his inner demons. Once it finally registers, Yixing smiles at him and moves slowly to sit up.

He lets everyone have a good look at his freshly waxed legs as he prepares to jump down, before he can move, though, the client reaches for him, offers him his hand to make his descent less dangerous.

Yixing swoons at that so hard that he doesn’t reprimand him when he hugs his waist to help him even further, usually people are too stunned or too rude to care about this kind of thing.

“Thank you.” he whispers against his ear as he finally straddles him.

“N-no problem.” his response delivered with cute, flustered stuttering. Yixing smiles at him and at the realization that many of the people who had been looking at Minseok have all turned to look at him.

Yixing looks all around himself to see all of them, absorb the lust they’re directing at him, storing it as fuel for the show he’s about to put on. This must be the first time that taking such a risky chance has repaid him so greatly.

“Usually I don’t let people touch me out of the vip rooms, but I’ll have to make a little exception for you.” Yixing plays with the man’s ear, strokes his neck gently to ease a bit of the tension settled on his shoulders. He massages him carefully over his arms and shoulders, another attempt at relaxing him, and he’s surprised by the size of the biceps he’s hiding under his dorky shirt.

Yixing holds his arms loosely and guides them against himself, adjusting his slightly sweaty hands around his waist. He looks at his wide palms smoothing over his hips, his thighs; his hands look so rough, but his touch is gentle.

Yixing lowers his gaze to look at him, ready to laugh at the sweaty, horny mess he expects to find, but he’s taken aback. The sweat, the familiar shine that arousal lays over eyes are both there, but he’s not looking at what his hands are touching, he’s not following the same path being followed by all the men around them. He is watching Yixing’s face attentively. Yixing sees his eyes dart from his dark hair, to his lips and to his eyes, he is looking at him fearlessly and openly, and he is not sure why it’s affecting him as much as it is.

He stands up and sits back down facing the other way, needing to escape the heavy air he felt settling everywhere around him.

When the song changes Yixing gets up once more, as expected, he is stopped before walking away.

"How much for a vip session?" the man asks, he seems excited, his eyes all big and sparkly. Yixing smiles at him.

"I'm already fully booked tonight, but when you come again I'll make sure you get a special price." Truthfully, he has no idea how many people have already requested him, the only thing he knows is that he doesn't want to spend time alone with the man in front of him. Not tonight at least.

The client has deflated considerably, but he extends a hand with a few bills, Yixing doesn't reach for it, instead he raises the fabric on his hip and offers it as a way to transport his payment.

The man finally stops staring at his eyes and moves down to look at his ass, Yixing feels like he can breathe again.

He successfully acquires his money and a few bills from everyone who was sitting around him as well. Someone gets too handsy as he walks out of the small crowd, but he is too out of it to reprimand them.

  
  


◊

In his life Kyungsoo has never felt so close to having a heart attack.

He can feel the edges of his lips turn up no matter how hard he tries to pull them back down, resulting in a smile that must look more creepy than charming. He hopes none of the dancers are looking at him.

His hands are still trembling after the short exchange, he can’t even remember clearly what he asked and even less what the walking dream who has just left him responded. Too much of his attention was stolen by pink lips and gorgeous brown eyes.

He’s harbored his fair share of crushes, but no one he’s ever known has ever hit him like this, nor looked as good as the man, the  _ mirage _ he’s just experienced. Finally he understands why that kind of name is attached to such a shabby place.

Kyungsoo puts his wallet back in the pocket of his jeans and districates himself from the labyrinth of people and tables.

“Oh! Back already?” Junmyeon welcomes him back into the office, Kyungsoo just hums and takes a seat on the sofa, not trusting his knees to keep him upright.

“This place is incredible.” He says suddenly, Junmyeon raises his eyes from the papers in his hand and exhales a small laugh, looking incredulous.

“I’d say we’re just average now,” he says, then Kyungsoo turns and stares at him blankly “Did something happen?” 

“I think... I’ll go home.” Kyungsoo clears his throat, 

“Oh, sure, I have everything under control.” Junmyeon smiles, it quickly downturns, “But are you okay?”

Kyungsoo nods, it’s getting harder to speak by the second, it’s getting harder to walk as well. Many things that shouldn’t be getting hard are proudly standing at full mast. 

He realizes he had been holding his breath only when he’s closed up in his car.

This was his first night at his new workplace. He keeps repeating himself that it’s a professional environment, that he can’t afford to commit these sorts of faux pas.

He lowers one of his hands on his crotch to gauge the extent of his shame, he pushes his thumb over the head resting on his left thigh. His shoulders slumps and he undoes the fastening of his jeans to be a bit more comfortable.

He should just drive home, do his best to stop behaving like an animal in heat and regain a sliver of his sanity.

Instead of turning the key, he lets his head fall and his forehead bump against the wheel. He can’t stop a smile from appearing on his lips as he reminisces the purple lights, the flesh his fingers had brushed against, the hand guiding his, the dark eyes coyly looking away from him.

Kyungsoo has no defense for this sort of thing, he has never been so close to the stars, he’s never built up an appropriate amount of resistance. 

He’s inexperienced and horny, a dangerous combination that he should have thought about when he decided to start working here.

  
  


◊

  
  


As it turns out, Yixing is not nearly as fully booked as he wanted his suitor to believe. He has the grand total of three vip sessions, all with faceless strangers that just want a chance to break the rules and get a glance at things that they can't afford to pay for.

Yixing's fine with it, though, this feels normal.

When he walks out of the club it's already two a.m., but there is still another job waiting for him in a black car parked a few meters away from the entrance.

He lands confidently on the familiar artificial warmth of the car seat and Huang Lei welcomes him with a smile, he reaches out for his hand to bring it to his lips. Yixing's toes curl in his white converse shoes.

"I am sorry I couldn't be here for your birthday." He says, Yixing pulls his hand out of his hold, shakes his head and swallows.

"Don't worry about it." Yixing feels a wave of disappointment wash over him, the same he felt the day of his birthday at the sight of the message cancelling the plans Huang Lei had reserved him for. 

"I'll make up for it, baby."

Yixing nods tentatively and looks in the rearview mirror, at the lights chasing each other. White, yellow and red glimpses of colour reflecting dimly over the wet concrete.

The same view stares back at him from the large window of the suite Lei booked for them.

"I don't get to spoil you that often anymore," the older man speaks over the piano tune vibrating softly through the air in the room, "I hope you're enjoying yourself." he continues, handing a flute of champagne to his companion.

"I am, thank you." Yixing smiles, feels his heart speed up at the slow, lecherous grin parting Huang Lei's lips, “ I also wanted to thank you for calling Nini to work at your restaurant.”

“There’s nothing you have to thank me for, she’s punctual and put together, I was glad she could come in with so little notice…” Yixing feels him nuzzle his neck, he moves his head to allow him better access, “ I have a gift for you.” He says, Yixing looks curiously as he walks to his coat laying on the king sized bed. He pulls out a velvet box from one of the pockets, “Thirty is an important year.”

He cuts the distance between them and poses a hand on Yixing's waist, Yixing lets himself go against him as he puts down his glass and takes the box, being offered to him.

He smiles and thanks him when he opens the present and finds an elegant golden bracelet. The diamonds lined up throughout the entire jewel reflect the warm light around them, their brilliance is almost blinding.

Yixing kisses him when Huang Lei puts it on his right wrist, he seems happy with his reaction, probably happier than Yixing himself. He has entire drawers filled with gifts he gave to him, but he was never able to gift him the only thing he really wanted. 

The heartache is so easy to manage now, it almost makes Yixing believe it was never there to begin with.

  
  


"Hey that's not fair, you can't count  _ all _ the money you made yesterday!" Yixing flinches on his chair, pulled out of his reminiscing of a few hours prior, the jacuzzi, the champagne, the rhythmic pounding in his ass and the money.

The voice requesting his attention is Nini's, eager to make sure everyone respects the rules.

"Why not? I was still dancing on a pole." Yixing shrugs and smiles at the disgusted sounds erupting from everywhere around him.

"No one wants to hear about your grandpa fucker endeavours." Sehun's face is pulled all tight, it reminds Yixing of a squeezed lemon.

Minseok comes behind him, his warm hands pose on his shoulders, silent but comforting. It's amazing how perceptive he can be for certain things and completely clueless about others.

"I can't believe you would taint this harmless, friendly bet with your cheating." Xiaobao shakes his head in disappointment.

"Well, it's already six and you still want to deny the evidence," Yixing stands up, "I will go to sleep and I'll be waiting eagerly for your payments."

"Fine whatever." Bao drops half of his tips on the table in front of Yixing, Minseok sighs and does the same.

"It was clearly Minseok's win." Nini says dejectedly,

"You are so right, baby." he pats her head among Yixing and Bao's incredulous complaints.

"Well, then thank god that I ended up winning because Minseok is not the one putting food on your table." Yixing says jokingly,

"Ah, Nini only needs to ask and I’ll get her anything!" Minseok proclaims, but he looks confused when Nini walks up to him and pinches the fabric of his tank top,

"Curry?" she says with a questioning tilt to her voice.

"Uh, that's a great idea…" Sehun interjects while touching his belly and soon everyone else follows.

They all start packing their bags as they discuss where they could possibly find curry at six in the morning. When they ask him to come, Yixing shakes his head and says he prefers getting some sleep.

They all turn at the sound of the dressing room door opening, "Hey!" Junmeyon's face appears.

"We're not in the mood right now." Xiaobao raises one of his hands trying to stop Junmyeon.

Junmyeon only clears his throat and continues on, "Like I said yesterday, we have a new ehm… What would you like to be addressed as?" His face disappears behind the door again.

Yixing looks at the scene in confusion, it worsens when he sees all the whispering going on among his colleagues.

"On a second thought, we are  _ definitely _ in the mood right now." Xiaobao sits back down, crosses his legs and looks straight at Yixing.

The others do the same, all turning towards him and giggling. Yixing sits up, uncomfortable with the way he was thrusted under the spotlight.

“Well… This is Doh Kyungsoo,” Junmyeon puts a strong emphasis on the man’s surname, Yixing gulps nervously, recognizing both the man and his family name.

The name belongs to the magnate of the coastal cities' nightlife, which means the stranger who is being introduced to them must be linked to him in some way. Judging by his fresh young face he must be one of his sons.

Yixing's tongue suddenly feels like sandpaper, he lets it scrape it against the roof of his mouth to whisper to Nini,

"Why did everyone know except for me?"

"You were changing when Junmyeon was telling us about him."

"Ugh... I can't believe you would dance like that for the owner’s son." Xiaobao pulls a scandalised face, Yixing grits his teeth and sends him a mean glare.

Junmyeon claps his hands, now his eyes are focusing on Yixing as well, his stiff smile sends chills down Yixing's body.

"You did what?" he asks, his apparent placid behaviour is like a cage ready to burst. Yixing stands up, ready to apologize, but also to justify himself.

"There's no need for this," Doh Kyungsoo speaks instead, "I've never been in a strip club as a client, I was glad I could experience it… I'm sure it will help my work too."

Yixing closes his mouth and sits back down, not knowing how to feel about the chilling calm with which his new boss has made his point.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo's hands become damp as he continues to speak to the room of dancers. Without wanting to, his eyes constantly travel to the back of the room. He feels a drop of sweat rolling down his nape when he thinks he locks eyes with  _ that _ dancer.

"Other than that though," Kyungsoo has never been good with public speaking, but years of practice have led him to learn how to disassociate enough to act as if he knows what he is doing, "I hope we will work together comfortably and that we'll make  _ Mirage _ prosper!"

He didn’t expect a strong reaction by any means, but the deafening silence that follows his words is a bit too much to deal with.

“Don’t worry, that’s just their reaction to everything.” Junmyeon pats his shoulder,

“As the eldest here,” the buffest dancer in the room suddenly walks to the front, his hands mess with Kyungsoo’s plaid shirt, “I shall be the one to welcome you.” Kyungsoo feels a bit light headed, when he moves close to him, his face covers his entire vision and he feels wetness on his lips, the smooching sound registers in his brain only entire minutes later.

He just got kissed, he realizes finally, the first kiss of his life gone to one of the most beautiful men he has ever seen. This first work day has reached far beyond any of his expectations. 

“And I’ll let you pay for our dinner… Well breakfast. We’re craving curry.” He says and Kyungsoo doesn’t have time to respond, before the other dancers speak up,

“You’re trying to wiggle yourself out of paying! I thought all Nini had to do was ask and you would get her anything!” The tallest in the room, all lean muscles, fierce eyes and piercings points at the performer still winded around Kyungsoo.

“That’s for when she is alone with me, I’m not going to pay for everyone after losing half of my tips!” Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow at that, how did he lose that money?

“Are you being threatened? Black mailed?” Kyungsoo grabs his wrist and looks at the dancer seriously, he won’t let any of his talents be treated this way.

There’s silence and then a confused laugh, “...What?” The man says and then starts laughing in earnest, the same happens to the rest of the room.

“No, there’s nothing to worry about, they just like to bet their money among themselves.” Junmyeon explains, Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything, his brain is too occupied with thinking what would be the legality of these bets and with metabolising his embarrassment.

“Exactly and I lost because of you and that hag!” Kyungsoo sees the dancer point in front of them, he can guess who he’ll see once he follows its direction. 

He’s disappointed when he doesn’t find him there, no pretty pink lips, no dark eyes, only faces he doesn’t recognize.

“Oh, where’s Yixing?” the dancer asks as he deflates, letting himself go against Kyungsoo, although Kyungsoo mentally is somewhere else.

_ Yixing _ , he thinks,  _ such a pretty name _ .

  
  


◊

  
  


Mornings are too cold for him. Yixing hates having to go back home when the sun is just barely out and still not strong enough to make the fall temperatures bearable.

He burrows in his coat, he’s wearing a pair of sweats, a t-shirt and a hoodie underneath his jeans jacket, but he thinks bitterly about how he could have gotten something warmer from the club if there wasn’t all that ruckus going on.

The scene he’s just left behind still lingers in his head, he should have known better. People that look like that are usually milked until they have no cents left, in retrospect it’s obvious that everyone had been avoiding him for a reason.

Yixing sighs, his breath turning into vapor in the chilly air, while he brings his earbuds to his ears and fills them with familiar tunes of orchestras. 

Getting in the subway at this time of the day usually means having to exchange uncomfortable glances and forced interactions with a swarm of well dressed office workers. It’s not Yixing’s favourite thing, especially not when it’s morning and he still has to get some shut eye, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t appreciate the view of men in elegant, pressed suits.

No one at the club tries to understand his fascination with older men and Yixing can’t really blame them, but there’s nothing he can do about it. The gentle signs of time, a deep husky voice, expert hands can’t be beat by men that are still green.

The image of their newly acquired boss comes to mind almost immediately: his wide eyes searching the room, his soft fingers trembling at the first touch against Yixing’s naked skin. Cute, but not for him.

Yixing falls out of his thoughts as he steps inside the wagon and takes a seat. A tall man in a black suit stands in front of him, holding onto the railings above them. His dark hair has a few streaks of gray, so Yixing’s eyes naturally continue looking over his figure; over his wide shoulders, narrow hips, freshly polished shoes. When his gaze travels back up he notices the man looking at him too. He smiles, wanting to elicit a reaction. 

The man clears his throat and stands up straighter, his eyes drift away and then come right back on him. Interesting, Yixing thinks.

Yixing’s shoe bumps lightly against the man’s ankle, “Sorry.” he apologizes, but he doesn’t take his foot away, on the contrary, he lets the tip of his shoe caress the man’s leg subtly. 

There’s a familiar sense of satisfaction in seeing him squirm among the crowd of passengers, in seeing fire kindle in his eyes and in feeling it burn Yixing’s skin.

Yixing’s squirming too, when the man bends down over him and speaks darkly in his ear, “I’m not used to feeding stray kittens.”

“I’m starving.” Yixing whines, plays into it and earns seven hundred yuan just like that.

The encounter in the bathroom of Yixing’s station is messy, quick and devastatingly unsatisfactory. The man is rough and clearly accustomed to things that Yixing doesn’t have a taste for, but when it’s time to pay he abides without complaining and adds a nice tip.

The amount of money he can splurge without batting an eye and the fact that he’s not panicked about having missed his station make Yixing think that he must be pretty high in the hierarchy of his workplace, so when it’s time to say goodbye he very deliberately brushes past him and leaves one of the club’s business cards in the man’s pocket. 

Eight hundred yuan and a possible regular in less than an hour, they really don’t make businessmen like him anymore.

Once he finally reaches home, he slips into Nini's room and goes straight for the red shoebox in her wardrobe. He leaves some of the money he made that night in it and then puts it back in its place. 

Equal percentages go to the other two goblins he’s housing, even if he does so with a slightly heavier heart. Not because he loves them any less, but because Nini is more responsible than them. Giving money to Sehun and Zitao always feels like a bit of a gamble, because he is painfully aware of how much of his younger self he sees in them, in their lack of a clear direction and purpose. He’s afraid of seeing them commit the same mistakes he did when he was their age.

Yixing never thought he would experience this first hand, but there might be some truth in what people say about daughters being always more mature than sons. 

A quick shower follows and eventually the comforting feeling of his mattress under him does too.

His eyelids fall close and he dreams of wide, dark eyes and gentle fingers brushing against his cheek.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo is completely unequipped to keep up with the amount of drinking and chaos going on around the table.

Considering that it's only eight a.m, he decides to order something a bit closer to his idea of breakfast, so he looks concerned at the people around him gulping down spicy curry as he sips on a warm vegetable broth.

"Isn't it kind of special that you're here?" The buff dancer, whose name now he knows is Minseok, has been attached to him the whole time, "Feels like fate, no?"

He's far from disliking the attention, but the serious glaring coming from one of the youngest staff members, is more than enough for Kyungsoo not to get any strange ideas. Although, even without that, he's still too hung up on someone else to have any real interest in Minseok.

He entertains the thought of what could have happened if he had gotten in a vip room with Yixing. How rewarding, but also embarrassing, it would have felt to have an impossible dream become reality in front of his own two eyes.

His head is in the clouds, when he drinks from his bowl a bit too quickly and the savory water flows down the wrong pipe. Kyungsoo feels himself choking and everyone sitting at the table rushes around him to pat his back or offer a drink.

Kyungsoo looks at them in confusion through his teary eyes, not used to all these people manifesting such strong emotions with no inhibition, even if no one is showing genuine worry, but they indulge in making jokes about him and telling him even if he dies he won’t be able to run away from paying.

He is equally confused when he pays their bill and no one utters anything close to a thank you. Since he's gotten in contact with the club he's felt the ground being ripped away from under his feet already more times than he can deal with.

They divide soon after, Junmyeon and himself walk back to the club and the dancers to their habitations. 

Kyungsoo is a bit disappointed when he crosses the threshold and the club is still in shambles, dirty and chaotic, but instead of complaining he follows Junmyeon’s lead and starts cleaning.

“Have you been back home?” Kyungsoo asks him, still not sure about the kind of time frame in which Junmyeon operates.

“No.” he says curtly, interrupted by a wide yawn.

“I can take care of the cleaning, you should go sleep.” Junmyeon looks at him like he’s grown a second head and drops the broom in his hands too, for good measure.

“Are you sure?” he asks as he scrambles to retrieve the wooden stick from the floor, “I mean, I’m used to this, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“We should take turns for now, down the line we might get someone to do it for us.” Kyungsoo shrugs, he enjoys cleaning anyway.

“Your optimism is kind of astounding.” Junmyeon shows him an unsure smile, his tone is dry. Kyungsoo feels like he is being made fun of.

“Is it that bad? Getting a cleaning person doesn’t seem that big of a deal to me.” Kyungsoo takes the broom from Junmyeon’s hands and starts using it.

“It’s not bad,” Junmyeon zips his coat back up, he’s getting ready to leave, “Just a bit naive.”

Kyungsoo looks down and starts sweeping, he doesn’t say anything else and Junmyeon goes away silently. He knows he’s young, he knows he’s not as experienced as he’d like to believe, but he is aware of how the business works. He is _ confident  _ he can make this work.

That explains why he’s not enjoying being treated like the fifth wheel. He enjoys it even less when three hours later the club is spotless and he’s cooped up inside the manager’s office, looking at the measly amount the club has made from the previous night.

A club in Yangpu, near the river, right into the gay district, open from eight p.m. to dawn has only gathered five thousand rmb? No wonder everything looks like a dumpster.

He fishes a protein bar from his backpack and lies on the dusty couch in the office, trying to not get angry as he looks over the badly managed expenses written down on the yearly registers.


	2. Chapter 2

Yixing doesn’t get to sleep much. He’s not sure what time it is when Nini barges into his room, but he knows it’s nowhere near being late enough.

“He’s a monster.” She jumps on the bed, making Yixing bounce over the mattress, “Why is he so horrible?” It takes a while for him to realize, but eventually he notices the tears dragging her makeup down her face.

“Because he’s a man.” Yixing supplies cynically, not expecting the way Nini’s sobbing becomes louder. He takes her in his arms and hugs her tight, he feels for her, but he also wishes she could let him sleep.

The light filtering from the opened door is covered by two looming figures, Yixing can see the shadows and lights playing even through his closed eyes. Without uttering a single word he moves his arm to invite them inside. He’s never been a fan of platonic physical closeness as much as his roommates, but he’s had to accept it as an acquired taste after the three years they’ve spent together.

Whether he likes it or not he’s found himself taking over the space in their lives reserved for a parental figure.

So he quietly accepts it when his children all gather on his bed to badmouth one of his best and oldest friends. The hushed voices give to the room that sense of familiarity that Yixing craves, they help him find the peace to fall asleep again.

He is forced out of it a few hours later, when not even the blinds on his window are enough to keep the daylight out of the room.

With some difficulty he districates himself from the tangle of sleepy limbs and drags himself to the bathroom.

After washing his face, the haze that accompanied his vision is dissipated, but the sense of heaviness that comes with sleep deprivation is still holding tightly onto his bones.

Meanwhile he thinks of his options for breakfast, he unblocks the screen of his phone and widens his eyes in surprise at the amount of unread messages waiting for him.

He groans as he opens the notifications and purposely skips Junmyeon's messages, he needs some time before stepping back into work mode.

One could argue that the chat he does open is even more work related, but Yixing, despite his acute rationality, doesn't feel that way as he looks at Huang Lei's messages.

_ I've missed you so much _

_ I wish I could see you every day, every hour _

_ I just got to work but you're all I can think about _

Yixing clears his throat as he puts on some water to boil. He skims quickly over the rest of the messages, some being more explicit than he was expecting. He puts more sugar than usual in his tea, trying to contrast the pure bitterness settled on his tongue.

He would rather be remembering anything else, but his brain supplies him with the memories from a long time ago. 

A younger looking Mr. Huang in his Armani suit walking forlornly through the streets of Shanghai and Yixing himself, only nineteen, lonely and high out of his mind looking for a way to make quick money.

Looking back at it, it seems rather obvious that Yixing would have found himself developing completely unprofessional feelings for him. 

It's hard to explain why to anyone looking in, but Yixing has never felt necessary sharing his feelings with anyone. He doesn't want his friends to think Huang Lei is taking advantage of him, but he knows they wouldn't understand even if he explained what he feels to them. Or at least what he felt.

They haven't experienced the kindness Lei offered him, the way he took his hand when no one would, even if in doing so he gave to Yixing an heavy load of sterile hopes.

Yixing dumps the tea in the sink after only two sips and puts some clothes on. Suddenly needing fresh air.

As he steps outside, the gelid air hits his face like a handful of needles, prompting him to burrow in his jacket and easily push his reminiscing at the back of his mind.

His feet bring him to the club, he doesn't have many other places he can visit for some peace of mind. He enters expecting to see Junmyeon passed out somewhere under the stage with a broom in his hand, instead he finds nothing of the sort.

Only the chairs already turned and perched on the tables and the floor, the stage all perfectly clean.

He knows how much Junmyeon hates having to clean after everyone and how he always ends up procrastinating until the older dancers come to give him a hand, so the sight is surely unexpected.

"Jun?" he asks out loud but no one responds.

He walks through the doors marked as  _ staff only  _ until he's in front of the office, without knocking he barges in and is surprised to not find Junmyeon there.

"...Good morning." He greets once he is able to absorb what he is seeing.

"Good morning." Doh Kyungsoo jumps on his feet, knocking down one of the high piles of books gathered around him, "Oh, damnit!" He says immediately after, despite the clear panic, his face stays as firm as stone.

Yixing bends down to help him gather everything, still a bit confused by the scene.

"What are you doing?" he ends up asking, picking one out of the hundreds of questions crowding his brain.

"Checking the registers." 

Yixing opens one as Doh Kyungsoo responds, the infinite lines of numbers make his head spin, "...Why?"

"Well… It's my job. I guess." There's quite a boyish charm in his facial features as confusion pushes past his default expression, maybe it's his wide, pretty eyes staring at Yixing so openly, almost innocently.

Yixing is reminded of the same gaze settling on him the night before, consequently of the way he forced his hands on himself 

"I am sorry about yesterday, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, Mr. Doh." Yixing changes the direction of the conversation and for a moment it seems like Kyungsoo won't be able to keep up.

"I would rather not think about that right now." Doh's deep voice sounds uncertain.

Yixing feels his chest constrict. If it were a regular client he wouldn’t have to fear anything, chances like that are what they pay for after all. He is concerned about having undermined their relationship, of the possibility of him losing his job and most of all of having forced someone to do something they didn't want to.

He prepares to apologize again to ask for a way to make things right, but Mr. Doh speaks once more.

"I kind of need my blood to stay in my brain right now." He sits back on the couch, he looks as if he is trying his best to escape Yixing's concerned gaze, "I can't afford to get a… You know. I'm in the middle of work."

Yixing can't believe his own ears, the flow of air in his body is cut by sheer incredulity, until it all amounts to a heart shaking laugh.

"Oh my god," Yixing covers his eyes among his wheezing. Soon enough Doh Kyungsoo is laughing with him, "I am glad you enjoyed the show, then, Mr. Doh."

"Please, just call me Kyungsoo."

"Okay." Yixing smiles, content, "I'm Yixing."

"Nice to meet you." Kyungsoo offers his hand and Yixing takes it without thinking, the other's strong grip surprises him, "Yixing, if you could change anything about the club, what would you change?"

Yixing is startled by the sudden question, many answers come to mind, although nothing sticks out.

He ends up thinking for too long, not realising that he is still keeping his boss' hand in his and that his eyes strangely seem to have taken residence on Kyungsoo's surprisingly pretty lips.

"It's okay, you can think about it. Let the other dancers know too, if anyone has any ideas please let me know." he says and finally loosens the hold on Yixing's hand.

Without thinking, the dancer's other hand moves to play with the newly freed one, feeling the ghost of Kyungsoo’s touch still on his skin.

"Are we doing that bad?" Yixing asks, it's the first time anyone seems so interested in changing the club, usually people from headquarters only send automated responses to Junmyeon's emails requesting funds for new upholstery and nothing else.

"Well," Kyungsoo starts, the tone makes Yixing think that he is about to hear a vague, diplomatic answer, "We're losing money, that doesn't sound very good to me."

Yixing didn't expect him to be so direct. The more he talks to him, the more he likes him, “Yeah… Doesn’t sound too good.” He wonders why this is the first time he’s hearing about this, Junmyeon complains to him everyday, but he never thought about telling him that they’re going under? “I’ll definitely let you know if anything comes to mind.” he says seriously. 

There are a few moments of silence and then Kyungsoo sighs as the hardcover of the register in his hands is closed shut, “I think I’ve seen enough.” he decides and Yixing looks at him getting back on his feet and grabbing more of the books piled in front of him.

“Let me help.” Yixing offers and picks up a few volumes himself.

“Thank you.” They continue silently after that, Yixing looking curiously at the many yearly books stored on the shelves, while helping Kyungsoo to put everything back where he found it.

“Kyungsoo?!” Junmyeon appears on the threshold of the office “You’re still here?! And Yixing too?”

“I was just about to go.” Kyungsoo says calmly, a strong contrast to Junmyeon’s panic.

“I just came here to kill time.” Yixing shrugs, not entirely sure himself about the real reason he's there.

“Well now go, go! Yixing, you have to work tonight! Go rest!” Junmyeon reminds him concerned.

“I know, I’ll be here as always.” Yixing dreads the idea of having to go back outside in the cold, but anything is better than having to sleep on the office’s couch. 

A silent lightbulb goes off in his head and he turns slowly to look at Kyungsoo.

"What direction are you headed to?" It’s hard to figure out his response with how unfamiliar he is with this side of the city, but the direction is close enough to not make Yixing feel bad about asking for a lift.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo prays he looks somewhat normal right now, because he definitely isn't feeling normal in the slightest.

Not with the way his heart seems to be beating in every single corner of his body, from his temples to his toes.

Yixing in daylight is so unnecessarily handsome. His side profile, his cheeks reddened by the cold, the skin of his nape peeking out of his jacket, his lips.

Kyungsoo looks away, his mind spiralling. He thought it would be one of his usual infatuations, that it would have no actual repercussions on his work relationship with Yixing, but there's no end in sight, only mindless horniness and speeding heart rates.

It somehow becomes worse as Yixing sits in his car, his legs in his washed out jeans spread wide, his black boots, the ridiculous low cut of his shirt. These are the gods testing him.

“Where are you staying?” Kyungsoo hears him talk from above the heart beat booming in his ears, now attraction and embarrassment are starting to mix dangerously.

“At the Marriott.” He responds, more concerned about the way he looks behind the wheel than the conversation. It’s kinda sad, but he wants to leave a good impression. He knows Yixing’s completely, utterly out of his league, but hopefully he won’t just think of him as a weirdo who gets boners when he thinks about him.

Fucking hell how did he think that was any way to talk to an employee, he should be locked up in prison.

“You’re living at a hotel?!” Yixing seems disconcerted, Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow.

“...Yes?”

“Rich people really are a different breed.” Yixing lets out an amused sigh, “Isn’t it kind of weird though?”

“In what way?” Kyungsoo is curious about Yixing’s train of thought.

“Well, hotel rooms are so impersonal. I wouldn’t be happy to think of one as my house.” He can feel Yixing’s gaze settle on his side profile, but he can’t even properly panic about it.

Kyungsoo is too preoccupied with thinking about his words, he thinks long and hard even after he leaves Yixing in front of his house, but he can’t understand what Yixing means. He has a bed to sleep in, a bathroom and that’s more than enough for him to feel at home.   
  


It’s been three days since Kyungsoo has arrived at the club, but he still finds things that surprise him. Not in the positive sense of the word. 

"So, we open at noon for what exactly?" Kyungsoo asks as he looks at the two shady guys occupying two of their twelve tables.

"Well… We can't just… You know" Junmyeon gestures widely, but Kyungsoo waits for him to finish speaking, "We can't close." he deflates.

Kyungsoo looks away, he's starting to understand why the club is losing tens of rmb a day.

"Do you like wasting your money?" Kyungsoo asks, he realizes it came out more unpleasant than intended when he sees Junmeyon's gaping mouth. 

"I'll listen to you later." he says and leaves Kyungsoo alone to look on as the dancer swinging around the pole yawns and the two clients sit down in silence, with a far too cheap soft drink in their hands.

As Junmyeon moves he reveals the member of the staff that has been glaring at him since he has introduced himself. Kyungsoo ignores her and goes back to gaze at the pitiful scene before him.

More than a  _ Mirage _ this feels like a nightmare.

  
  


◊

  
  


"Dear God…" Yixing's ears pick up Nini's voice even before he sees her, "The air is freezing in the other room."

"The heater broke again?" Yixing asks without looking away from his mirror.

"No, our rich little master is bullying Junmyeon and glaring at our regulars."

Yixing releases an amused sigh, it sounds like the kind of image he'd like to see, but he can't deny it also sounds quite concerning.

His help and ideas are not going to be worth implementing if he ruins the staff's mood.

"He's such a creep, do you remember how he put his hands on you, just because he's the owner's son-"

"Nini, you know nothing of that is true,  _ I _ put his hands on myself and  _ you _ 're trying to blame Minseok's promiscuity on our new boss." Yixing turns and crosses his arms and legs, a perfect picture of a strict parent, but his brain is easily filled by the images described by Nini.

Nini raises her eyes to the sky and stomps her feet, "This sucks." 

Yixing laughs lightly at her frustration, he’s never been the kind of person to follow the object of his romantic interest as fiercely as her, but he thinks he understands the sentiment, in some way. 

“Come on, cheer up.” Yixing walks behind her and pats her shoulders, plays idly with her long, bleached hair, “I’ll buy you dinner tonight.”

“I can’t tonight, I have a meeting with the study group,” She’s suddenly more bubbly, Yixing is happy to see her so excited for the outing, when only a few months ago she dreaded any sort of social interaction, “You should go check on Junmyeon, though…”

“I’m tired of being everyone’s moral support.” He sighs.

“But you’re the best at it.” She smiles up at him

Admittedly, he understands why  _ “our rich little master” _ wouldn’t be thrilled about the situation in the club. He knows he's asking himself for what reason they continue to open during the day, and Yixing echoes the sentiment.

His presence in the main room is a bit too striking though, standing straight with his arms crossed and his bushy eyebrows furrowed behind the frames of his glasses.

“You’re going to scare them away.” Yixing waltzes by his side,

“Great, so we can close and stop wasting money.”

“Damn, it’s not that serious,” Yixing’s light voice breaks with a surprised chuckle, “I’m sure we have enough money to keep it open, Junmyeon would let us know if we didn’t.”

Kyungsoo looks at him as if there’s something more he wants to say, but he stays quiet.

“Why don’t we take a break?” Yixing rests his arm on Kyungsoo’s left shoulder and poses his chin on it. The sudden vicinity clearly startles Kyungsoo even if his face stays perfectly calm. Yixing laughs at him, his reactions are too amusing for his own good.

As he guides him to the back of the club, Yixing’s senses metabolize what he’s learned from being so physically close to Kyungsoo, for example that his eyelashes are long and that his skin his dry, that he smells of laundry detergent and of the kind of shampoo that’s marketed for men, that sort of clean but pungent scent that hygiene products sellers dump into the contents of every dark blue bottle they create.

Yixing hates it.

“Do you smoke?” Yixing asks as he’s about to push open the back door of the club,

“No, I don’t.” As expected, “Are you going out like that?” Kyungsoo’s hand touches Yixing’s arm, but when he turns to look at him he retreats, as if the contact surprised him as well.

Yixing looks down at his cheap lilac robe and his feet still secured in his sneakers, “Are you going to lend me your coat if I say I’m cold?” he asks, enjoying greatly the way Kyungsoo splutters for a few seconds,

“Well,” he clears his throat, ”Of course.” 

Yixing hums and, feeling a bit magnanimous, he finally looks away from Kyungsoo and decides to let him breathe again. He takes the cigarette perched behind his ear and the lighter from the only pocket sewed on his frilly robe. Among the clicks of his lighter, he ears rustling and by the time he’s inhaling smoke, he’s rolled up in Kyungsoo’s thickly padded jacket.

“I didn’t say I’m cold, you don’t need to worry.” He had actually been freezing, though. He wonders if Kyungsoo noticed or if he was just trying to make a move.

“How can I not worry, I can’t let one of my employees become sick.” Yixing laughs out loud this time, Kyungsoo is ten years too early to be having any worries about him.

“Thank you so much, boss.” He says with a little bow, he never thought he would ever be in the position of pulling the leg of someone who might fire him at any given moment, but he can’t stop himself.

“Did it sound haughty?” Kyungsoo asks, still far too serious compared to the way Yixing is leading the conversation,

“No, no, it’s nice that you care about us.” Yixing pats his head, he’s tired of finding children to take care of at every step of his life, but he guesses, this must be something that comes with his age. 

Yixing’s nose scrunches, he enjoyed absolutely nothing of that last thought so he looks for a way to distract himself, “Hey, aren’t you curious about what I’m wearing under the robe?” Yixing plays with the lower hem resting at his knee, pulling it up on his thigh. 

He’s wearing nothing underneath, just a few centimeters and he’ll be having Kyungsoo’s awkwardly ardent gaze on places that he shouldn’t be seeing. Yixing had been joking, but Kyungsoo’s wide eyes have shifted, there’s something scary in them, just like him he’s unabashedly showing a side of himself that shouldn’t be displayed so openly. 

Yixing is not used to getting a taste of his own medicine, but that seems to be the only dish on Kyungsoo’s menu.

Something snaps in Kyungsoo and he looks away, his eyes are back to normal “I think it’s better if I go back now.” 

He disappears behind the door and all the complaints about bullying and glaring that Yixing had to share with him, stay on his tongue.

He takes a drag from his cigarette and silently convinces himself that the warmth on his face is being caused by the jacket and nothing else.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo makes sure the image of Yixing’s thick thighs is burned in his brain, he has no chances with him so he’ll take all he can get and run with it, even if Yixing clearly only thinks of it as a joke. 

That said, though, Kyungsoo isn’t sure he enjoys the way Yixing is so flippant with him, one moment being nice and conversing with him, the next making fun of him, treating him no different than a kid. Kyungsoo feels a solid wall between them. He wonders if they’re too different to find any real common ground. Well, at least he’s not ignoring him like the rest of the dancers.

It’s a shame that he’s not able to indulge in a well deserved day dreaming session all dedicated to Yixing because of the foul mood he’s in.

It took him longer than he would like to admit, but after a night spent thinking about what he read on the registers, he thinks he’s finally understood the extent of the situation that the club is facing. 

It’s worse than he thought.

He would think that his father would have a stronger reaction towards a place that is only losing him money, be he’s never really heard any of his closer collaborators say anything about it, it seems like something that they’ve bought and then collectively forgot about it.

Kyungsoo needs to look away when he crosses the now completely empty room. The music and lights on the stage are still going off, but the dancer, Xiaobao, is sitting down, going through his phone.

His eyes raise to the ceiling, trying to keep himself from doing anything rash, even though he feels sufficiently ready to shut everything down and call it a day.

As predicted, nothing much happens during the rest of the day, three more men come in and out during the afternoon as two of the youngest dancers, whose names Kyungsoo still doesn’t know, are dancing. Just to keep himself occupied and not think about the complete madness that is reigning over this club he starts cleaning anything he can find, from the staff bathroom to the only VIP room that’s been used in the last twenty-four hours. He tries to keep to himself, afraid that he might say something tactless if anyone were to talk to him.

Although, his plans don’t really matter when a menace like Yixing is around, every time he looks over his shoulder he sees him there, standing in another room or talking to the other dancers, he smiles and waves and then goes back to what he had been doing, as if Kyungsoo couldn’t feel his gaze burn into him again as soon as he stopped looking.

Being so hyper aware of him doesn’t help anything, the only thing it achieves is making Kyungsoo feel dumb, horny and unprofessional. Which is not ideal when mixed with the subtle anger that has been building up inside him throughout the whole day.

He scrubs hard at the dried stain under the small coffee table in the VIP room, he doesn’t want to focus on the possibilities regarding the creation of such a stain, but that’s the best option he has if he wants to stop thinking about Yixing and the club for more than a couple of minutes. 

“Hard at work, uh?” Kyungsoo’s heart jumps in his throat at the sudden voice talking over the buzz of the techno music coming from the main room. He’s scared to turn, but he does anyway, already knowing who it is that he’ll find.

He might have known, but nothing really could have prepared him for the way Yixing chose to appear in front of him. Kyungsoo wonders if he’ll wake up soon with sweat on his forehead and jizz in his boxers.

Yixing adjusts his position, raises an arm and leans over the frame of the door, he’s feline, gorgeous. Kyungsoo’s eyes travel from his feet, to his legs, he gulps at the sight of the skimpy underwear he has on, but most of all at every inch of his skin from his neck down encased in a web of mesh. The threads of fabric follow the lines of his body perfectly, it’s tight against him and it covers just about nothing. It’s so obscenely hot and Kyungsoo is glad he’s already on his knees or he would have fallen over and embarrassed himself even more in front of him.

“I wanted to see your reaction up close before I got on stage,” Yixing laughs and steps forward, Kyungsoo tries to set his eyes somewhere decent without being too obvious, but soon Yixing’s face is in his line of vision and he can’t form a single coherent thought. His body is insane, but being able to stare right in his eyes provokes in him such a strong gut wrenching emotion that he’s rarely experienced before.

It becomes worse when Yixing’s expression changes and he is the first to look away, knowing that he is able to affect him in some way is exhilarating. Kyungsoo can only hope he doesn’t act like this because he finds him creepy.

Kyungsoo sees Yixing’s hand rise and his hand comes up to hit under his chin. Kyungsoo realizes only in that moment that his mouth has been open this entire time.

He doesn’t know what to do or say to lighten the atmosphere, Yixing had been laughing but now he seems slightly more serious, his expression turning dark as he finally looks back at Kyungsoo and cuts the distance between them, dragging himself on the floor on all fours.

Kyungsoo sits back, starting to feel an uncomfortable tightness in his knees. Yixing’s hands move on his thighs, he keeps them there as his face continues to come closer.

Kyungsoo lets the cleaning rag fall to the floor, his hands search for contact, but he feels too shy to reach for Yixing’s waist, so he touches his arms, looks in his eyes, at the careful dark line of eyeshadow on his lid and the beautiful spark in his brown irises.

He can’t believe this man is real and even less that he is touching him with his own hands, that he is looking at him. Yixing closes his eyes and tilts his head, Kyungsoo feels his hands grip his thighs and then the foreign sensation of his glossy lips against his.

A breath catches in Kyungsoo’s throat and many of those that follow do the same. He forgets how to breathe, how to function all together, but Yixing doesn’t seem to notice, he moves forward until he’s sitting in his lap, he’s cradling his head in his arms and gripping his hair. Kyungsoo thinks he’ll die suffocated by Yixing’s lips and his pecs pressing insistently against his sternum and he couldn’t imagine a better way to go.

“I love seeing how much you want me.” Yixing whispers against his lips, Kyungsoo finally opens his mouth, he breathes out and gasps for air, but instead of giving himself time to sort himself out, he cranes his neck and looks for more of the sweet contact. Yixing laughs at him again, he pecks his lips “Come look at me.” he says and then leaves.

Kyungsoo checks the state of his pants and follows him.

The private rooms are elevated, in front of them there’s quite a sizable aisle that offers a complete view of everything happening at the tables and the stage underneath. Instead of walking down the stairs, Kyungsoo stays there, he leans over the wooden railing with his checkered shirt still rolled up to his elbows, his hands smelling of floor detergents and his heart going a mile a minute. 

He sighs as he takes in the sight of the half empty club, but he spots Yixing walking among the tables, he is willing to banish that thought at the back of his mind.

As he moves all the heads turn to look at him, many nod in his direction or raise their hands to greet him. They look pathetic and Kyungsoo completely relates to them.

Yixing smiles politely as he beelines for the stage. He effortlessly pulls himself up the platform, the show of his arms and core strength is already enough to set off a few members of the audience, Kyungsoo included.

The dark beat that had been playing is cut off abruptly by a new song, the genre is more urban, a smooth bass and lighter notes that mix to create a sultry rhythm that morph Yixing's movements directly.

He takes long steps, his feet covered by the fishnet stockings glide over the surface as he nears one of the two poles. 

He starts with the one on the right, his hand grasps it and without a single symptom of strain he raises himself from the ground, bringing his legs up and his head down, his torso extends beautifully, his long neck cranes as he closes his eyes and throws his head back.

The same position is kept for an entire turn around the pole, then his legs spread into a split and he flings himself until the same split is secured against the stage floor.

Yixing closes his legs and lies down on one side, his hands touch the defined lines of his chest and, as he moves to lay on his back, the ones of his abs and downwards until his right hand is touching the skin between his thigh and his crotch.

His left hand is back around his neck, Kyungsoo gulps loudly at the sight of Yixing's thin fingers touching his Adam's apple, then his chin, his lips, finally two of his fingers disappear between them. When Kyungsoo sees them again they're slick with spit, the wetness being visible even under the opaque, pink and purple lights.

Yixing's eyes close, as he mimics ecstasy, his hand thrash his hair and his hips thrust up, then down when he turns on his front, giving Kyungsoo a far too explicit view of his ass in a thong.

He continues the routine by getting on his knees and resuming his lewd touches, Kyungsoo feels a collective sigh rising from the room when he grasps his crotch firmly and moans, loudly enough to be heard over the music.

Money starts to be left on the stage, some of the bravest wait for Yixing to walk down the center part of the stage, the longest part that reaches right among the tables. They make Yixing take their money with his teeth, some slide them inside his underwear or in his intricate outfit.

Kyungsoo looks on as Yixing lets the clients around him do everything they want within the rules and others move to talk to Junmyeon or the staff at the bar, most likely to request private sessions. He can’t blame them, he was right in their shoes only a few days before.

He had already understood this from seeing him on stage during his first night here, but after being able to observe his performance without being attacked in the middle of it, Kyungsoo is amazed. Yixing feels like the sort of person who was born to do this, as if no matter which path he followed, he would have eventually always found his way back to a stage.

The song fades out and Yixing smiles as he jumps down from the stage and stops briefly to chat with whoever tries to talk to him, his routine changes only a few steps forward, when he rushes towards the furthest table to the right and sits down. Kyungsoo stands up straighter at the sight of Yixing scooting on the black leather over the seat, attaching himself to the man that was already sitting there.

He looks away when he sees Yixing caress the side of the stranger’s face and coax him closer. He turns and moves back into the vip rooms, doing his best to ignore the ugly feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Kyungsoo doesn’t see Yixing for the rest of the night, he’s happy to get a few hours of rest from him. Around one in the morning he sees him reemerge from the dressing room, already wearing his everyday clothes and covered by the same jeans jacket he always sees him wear.

“I’m off, boss.” He walks past him and winks.

Kyungsoo hums, but he wants to speak up, he wants to know what Yixing is thinking, despite not even knowing how to begin asking. He clears his throat trying to give him a signal to wait when he reaches for the handle of the front door. Yixing turns to look at him, but before anyone can say anything, the door opens and the same stranger that had been embracing Yixing in front of the entire club appears.

“Are you ready, dear?” he asks nonchalantly. He is a man in his forties, his watch and his suit are expensive, his hands sure as he touches Yixing’s back.

“Yes,” Yixing smiles at him, but then turns again, Kyungsoo is right there waiting for him to look at him, “Then, I’ll be going.”

“Goodnight.” Kyungsoo offers a tight-lipped greeting.

His mood tanks significantly after that. He should be going home and sleep, instead he walks to the back to close himself in the office. Once he gets there, though, he finds Junmyeon sitting at the desk, the register Kyungsoo has left on it is open in front of him and he figures this is a time as good as any to speak to him.

"Every month four hundred thousand rmb appear out of nowhere," Kyungsoo starts, Junmyeon closes the book and intertwines his fingers, "Where do they come from?"

"Not from the people that bought the club from me, that's for sure." his usually mild demeanor turns bitter, he looks at Kyungsoo as if he's responsible for all his problems.

"It's hard to want to invest in a sinking ship." Kyungsoo takes a seat on the couch, unable to ignore how different the mood is from the first time they found themselves in the same positions and how he probably is the sole cause of it.

"Then why buy it at all? I expected you to want to do something about it."

"Well, I'm here now." Kyungsoo sits up and straightens the glasses perched on his nose.

"Don't take it personally, but you being here doesn't reassure me at all."

"Where is that money coming from?" Kyungsoo ignores the hostility in his words. Junmyeon looks at him wordlessly, "It's yours, isn't it?"

Junmyeon sighs, he raises his hands and shrugs. His jaw tightens and his eyes become red.

There's no point in keeping the club open if it needs to be supported directly by its manager.

Kyungsoo covers his eyes with his hands, his fingers rub at them strongly, "It really is much worse than I thought."

"You've been here three days, what do you know?" Junmyeon all of a sudden seems to not want him there at all, when he’s been nothing but welcoming until now.

"I needed one day to understand how you're causing this place and yourself to hit rock bottom." Kyungsoo is swept up in the moment, the harsh emotions on Junmyeon's face trigger in him something visceral.

"I would really like to see what mister goody two shoes here is going to do about it." Junmyeon stands up, "But it's better if you go back to your dad now, we're doing just fine without you."

"I think you got the hierarchy in this place mixed up." Kyungsoo stands up too, he hates behaving like this, he hates this entire situation, but this isn't only Junmyeon's passion project, this is Kyungsoo's chance to prove himself to his father, this is the moment he has been waiting for.

He looks on as Junmyeon's mouth opens and doesn't release any sounds. He gathers his things and walks out, when he brushes past Kyungsoo, the latter speaks up without turning around,

"You're not fired and I won't accept a resignation. Take some time off and come back when you're ready."

He doesn't hear anything else, so he turns, when the door enters his vision there's no one there listening to him.

  
  


◊

  
  


Yixing has walked back in just in time to hear the fireworks coming out of the office.

Most of the dancers are laughing it off, making jokes about the spoilt little master not getting his way. The atmosphere takes an entirely different turn when instead of their new boss the one they see storm out is Junmyeon.

The unease increases tenfold when the newly arrived member of the staff walks out of the office too and, while standing uncomfortably on the threshold of the dressing room, he speaks up.

"We're done for today. Tomorrow you won’t need to come, I'll call you soon to talk about your new shifts."

Chopsticks, forks, spoons are dropped in unison and concerned yelling is sent Kyungsoo's way.

Yixing sees Kyungsoo close his eyes and take a deep breath,

“Please stop talking all at the same time!” he doesn’t expect him to shout at them with the same vigour of an exhausted high school teacher, “When we’ll talk again you’ll be able to share all your complaints. For now, you can go.”

“Hey, you can’t just chase us out like this, we need the pay-” Tao stands up,

“Have I said you weren’t going to get paid?” Kyungsoo’s expression is blank, his gaze is stern. Yixing feels a bit disgusting for finding him hot in such a circumstance. 

“What a fucking asshole.” Tao sits back down when Kyungsoo pushes out a far too professional greeting and walks away; all the dancers make agreeing noises through their chewing. Not Yixing, though, he’s too occupied with the sight of Kyungsoo’s dad jeans walking back in the office.

“What do you think is happening?” Minseok leans towards him, pulling Yixing back to Earth,

“...No idea.” Yixing looks back at his table where he forgot his phone, feeling his stomach turn upside down at the smell of all the food being consumed by the other dancers, “Let’s invite Junmyeon out for lunch and force him to tell us.”

Minseok’s left hand ruffles Yixing’s hair, “So you are keeping something useful inside this huge head.” He pulls him closer to himself, “Not only inappropriate thoughts about master Doh.”

“Ew, don't even joke about that." Yixing pulls a face, but he feels his ears burn.

“How did you know?” Twelve hours later Yixing is still thinking about Minseok's words, so that's the question he greets him with when he sits in front of him at their favourite restaurant.

"Yixing your reputation is already plummeting, just accept your fate." Minseok steals his drink and takes a sip, "Now that you're a grandpa yourself, you're developing different tastes."

"Just…" Yixing's mouth stays open as he desperately searches for a rebuttal, "Shut up." nothing of value comes to him.

"So you're admitting it?!" Minseok pulls a shocked face, Yixing isn't sure how much truth there is in it.

"Hey," Junmyeon appears just at the right time, saving Yixing from embarrassing himself further. He sits down and releases a long sigh, "I can't believe what happened yesterday."

"Yeah, no one can." Minseok interjects, this time he takes a sip from his own drink.

"Let's order and start talking." Yixing proposes and raises a hand to call a waitress over.

It takes a while, even after the food has arrived, to break free from their familiar chatting and start asking the real questions. Thankfully, Junmyeon senses their impatience and starts talking on his own accord.

"It just pissed me off to hear a kid telling me I can't manage my business," it's a strong start, but that tends to be a must for Junmyeon's complaints, "Even though, he's not exactly wrong." he looks in his plate and moves around the food without eating.

"Go on." Yixing's light eyebrows furrow,

"When Yifan left me the club, everything was going well, but… Something down the line stopped working." Junmyeon leaves his chopsticks and starts to fidget, "We've been on the verge of going under for a while."

Minseok can't mask his shock, "And you just never told us?" 

"I didn't want you to worry about it, I just needed you to keep working as usual." 

Things start to take shape in Yixing's head, Kyungsoo's overzealousness seems completely justified now. "How have we stayed open?" he asks.

"I've been using my own money to pay the bills and the rest to pay all of you." 

The revelation has both Minseok and Yixing reeling, Yixing instinctually reaches for his pack of cigarettes, trying to calm himself down, but the  _ NO SMOKING _ sign on the wall to his right takes him back to reality. On the other hand, Minseok explodes immediately, berating their friend and manager.

“In what world does that make any fucking sense to you?” he starts, the other patrons are all turning to glance at them, but Minseok doesn’t feel the weight of their judgement, “This is too much, Junmyeon, you should have asked for help.”

“I did! I asked for money from the people that bought the club, but I never got a response.”

“Isn’t Kyungsoo the response?” Yixing interjects, he gets two incredulous gazes as a response.

“Yixing, come on, they should have just told us to close, then.” Junmyeon laughs and messes with his hair, "I was excited when he arrived too, but then I realized how inexperienced he is…"

“That’s not fair, he seems genuinely interested in making it work, he’s even told me to ask the dancers for opinions,” Yixing recalls what he saw in the office the day Kyungsoo asked him for advice, "He might not have a lot of first hand experience, but he seems smart enough to know what he is talking about."

Minseok's eyes roll to the ceiling, as if he had something to say about his words, but he decides to move on, "Were you doing it for… You were, right?"

Yixing's throat constricts, his chest hurts seeing Junmyeon's head fall in his hands.

"I wanted to keep things as they've been until now. As they were while he was here."

Yixing stands up. He needs this cigarette and he needs it now.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo is once again hunched over books and registers, doing his best to discern Junmyeon's upsetting ugly handwriting.

There is a plan taking shape in his head, but things are moving slowly. Not because Kyungsoo doesn't know where to look or how to get what he needs, the problem is how heavy this responsibility feels.

When he first thought about changing things he was reassured by the manager being by his side, by the experienced dancers that work for him, but now he's completely on his own, alone drowning in decisions and receipts.

The first thing he should be doing is creating a timetable for the shifts and get the club back to work as soon as possible, but he's not ready to interact with the dancers yet. He's sure they must be angry at him, they probably think Kyungsoo is messing up with their work, even though he's positive that after his changes get implemented they'll get even more money. 

It's hard to let them know though, Kyungsoo is clearly unwelcome and that's fine, it’s not their fault, but he needs to find a way to communicate with them or nothing of this is ever going to work. He wonders if hiring one of the dancers that seem to not despise him as an ambassador would help or make it worse.

His phone vibrates over the uneven wood of the office desk. His brother's contact flashes on the screen.

"Hello?"

"I just got out of a meeting and saw your call," 

"I need the list of approved alcohol suppliers from this area, who do I need to ask?" Kyungsoo gets straight to the point,

"Ah, yeah, it's Cheng, I have a call with him in a few hours. I'll tell him to send it your way."

"Thanks." Kyungsoo clears his throat, "How are you?"

"Who fucking cares, have you called dad?" Baekhyun laughs, seeing through Kyungsoo's unusual small talk.

"No, I didn't. By the end of the month I'll invite him to the new opening."

"Uh, a new opening is happening right under his nose, I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

Kyungsoo keeps quiet, there's nothing his brother can say that will make him change his mind.

"Look, I'm glad you're working hard and enjoying yourself. It's just that no one knows what he actually wanted to do with that club, you might be wasting your time, that's all." Baekhyun sighs, suddenly more serious.

"It's been more than a year since he bought it… Is it possible that he might have forgotten about it? The people here say that they never heard from us." Kyungsoo explains.

"That sounds like something the old man might really do... Well, let me know if you get the list."

"Sure."

The call is cut after that and now that Kyungsoo has a solution for their future supplier all that's left to do is to call a member of the staff and use them as a peace offering.

Only one option comes to mind and his hands sweat at the thought.

Kyungsoo looks over the contacts book of the club, but he doesn't know what surname he is looking for, so it kickstarts another endless search.

He eventually finds what he is looking for under a long list of Zhangs, his eyes pose on Zhang Yixing's number, but he doesn't exactly feel relieved.

His fingers tremble lightly as he dials the number. He takes a deep breath… And then one more.

Kyungsoo continues this way until he saves the number, locks his phone and tells himself he'll do it later.

He doesn't ever get to do it, though, because minutes later the contact he has just saved lights up his phone with a strangely flowery message.

_ Hello darling _

_ need to talk to you where are you _

Kyungsoo looks around himself and adjusts the neckline of his t-shirt for no reason, before responding,

_ At work _

The response is quick,

_ Come outside _

The order has Kyungsoo jumping on his feet and grabbing the keys of the club and of his car. He's confused by the request, but the way his heart is thumping is more than enough reason to move without protesting.

He realizes what time it is only when he steps outside and the sky is dark. It's a Thursday night, but the street in front of the club is full, although no one dares even a glance towards the unlit neon sign above Kyungsoo's head.

"Good evening, handsome," Yixing's voice comes from his right accompanied by a waft of cigarette smoke, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Kyungsoo hears an alarm going off somewhere in his body, but his face skillfully stays completely calm, "Sure." he says curtly, his voice tight.

Yixing smiles and starts walking, Kyungsoo follows closely, looking expectantly at the other's back.

"I hadn't realized it before, but the district has really changed." Yixing starts, Kyungsoo has to speed up his pace and get closer to hear him clearly, "When I got here most of these buildings were badly concealed brothels for gay men, our club was the only one not monetising sex."

Kyungsoo hums, he looks at the vibrant windows of the bars and cafes. There's even a line a few steps in front of them, most likely waiting to get in a dance club.

"Compared to all of this," Yixing starts again, he turns to look at Kyungsoo, a small smile curves his lips but there's no happiness in it, " _ Mirage _ seems like the ruins of a past decade.” 

There’s a short pause as they continue walking, Kyungsoo sees two girls making out in the middle of the street and it takes entire moments to realize that it’s real life, that this isn't a fantasy world he has made up. “I know everyone’s being a bit hard on you… But I hope you'll be able to get it back to what it used to be."

Kyungsoo continues to take in the rainbow flags and the small glances he gets of nifty interior designing, of all kinds of different people walking alongside him. There's nothing comparable to their cut up leather couches and claustrophobic vip rooms. 

Inside their club reigns darkness, it hides and conceals, but only a few steps outside, it’s clear that the trend has changed. 

"Ohi, say something." the back of Yixing's hand hits Kyungsoo's solar plexus,

Kyungsoo hears his joking tone, but he wants him to understand how serious this is for him, how hard he wants to succeed. He breathes in and takes the hand which had hit him playfully moments before,

"I'm trying my best," Kyungsoo makes sure Yixing is looking right at him as he speaks, "I can't do anything without you, though." it takes a moment too long for Kyungsoo to correct himself, "You and the other dancers… I mean…" his ears, his face, his nape, everything's burning, “I can’t accomplish anything without… Everyone.”

"Stop being so cute." Yixing hits his chest again with the same hand, freeing himself from Kyungsoo's hold.

"That wasn't cute, it was embarrassing." Kyungsoo grits his teeth thinking back at it and at all the other times he made himself look like an ass in front of Yixing.

Kyungsoo is surprised by a touch on his hand and by Yixing pulling him in one of the bars, “Come on, I promised you a drink.”

Kyungsoo holds tight onto his hands as he is dragged around, he manages to read the sign of the bar they are entering, he feels his ears burn as he realizes the elegant sign written in a tasteful cursive reads  _ Cock Torture _ .

He wants to stop Yixing and ask what kind of place they’re about to visit, but before he can, he’s already inside, looking right at a Cher impersonator dance on a small stage in the far right of the establishment.

“Xingxing!” Directly from behind the counter a huge guy waves his hands towards them,

“Zhiting, how are you?” Kyungsoo is being dragged around once more, the place isn’t too crowded, but the weight of everyone’s eyes on himself feels heavier than he would like. He remembers how excited he was by the prospect of being in a place filled by gay men like him, but theory and practice aren’t the same and being stared at while _ Bang bang  _ plays in the backgroung feels more intimidating than he thought it would.

“I haven’t seen you in so long!” The man, Zhiting, if Kyungsoo heard correctly, picks up two glasses and starts preparing drinks.

“Yeah, work’s been busy.” Yixing shrugs,

“Oh, I know all about it! You started working the seven a.m. shift again, right? Taekwoon has been telling everyone that he saw you at your subway stop following a handsome-”

“No!” Kyungsoo’s eyebrows that had been furrowing deeper with each of the stranger’s words, suddenly raise far up on his forehead as Yixing nearly shouts, “That was just a lucky morning.” He scratches the back of his head and immediately takes a sip as soon as he is offered a drink.

Kyungsoo looks at him, not knowing if he should ask for more information as an employer or just act as if he hasn’t heard anything. He wonders if his personal curiosity can be masked by work concerns. He opts for his second choice and takes a sip of his drink too, it’s horribly bitter.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice you had company…” Kyungsoo is scrutinized as the man lies through his teeth, not only he just served him a drink but he also has been glancing at him since he walked in.

“This is Kyungsoo, he's a… Coworker.” Yixing introduces him half-heartedly, Kyungsoo bows his head as a greeting.

“Uh, so pretty! A new dancer?” The man’s rough fingers touch Kyungsoo’s chin, he jolts on his seat, frankly unable to tell if he likes or dislikes the attention.

“He’s not a dancer, he’s the son of the new owner.” Yixing is amused as he slaps the hand away from Kyungsoo’s face, “And he’s never been in a place like this, so don’t scare him away.” he laughs lightly as he speaks, he jumps on one of the stools near the counter and invites Kyungsoo to do the same. Once they’re sitting, Yixing’s foot starts bothering Kyungsoo’s ankles, caressing and smoothing against him as if he were a cat. Once again, Kyungsoo is completely confused.

“Oh, my! First time?! What a waste! You should go out more!” Zhiting pours more vodka in the concoction in his glass, despite the fact that he hasn’t even drunk half of it, then he flutters away to another client that requests his attention.

“How did you know?” Kyungsoo clears his throat,

“What?” Yixing tilts his head,

“That I’ve never been in a place like this.” 

“Well,” Yixing props his elbow on the counter and poses his cheek in his hand, his free hand plays distractedly with the zipper of Kyungsoo’s jacket, “You look so panicked that for a second I thought you might be straight.” he laughs vigorously, making Kyungsoo’s nervousness crumble.

“Well, I’m not.” Kyungsoo adds smiling. He sees one of Yixing’s hands come closer and then feels a finger poke his forehead,

“Who would have known!” They both laugh even more, Kyungsoo suddenly feels more at ease, Yixing is demanding all his attention and there’s no space left for feeling shy, “It’s not weird, though, clubs have never really been my thing either… But when I moved here, it felt like I needed to come to places like these.”

“I have to say, though…” Yixing starts again after a small silence in which the speakers start blasting Joline Tsai’s  _ We’re all different yet the same _ “Considering what I’ve heard about your family it seems weird that you wouldn’t be into the nightlife.”

“It’s not that I’m not into it… It’s that I’ve only been in straight people clubs.“ Kyungsoo can tell Yixing is about to ask more, but he beats him to it and decides to question him before he can do it, “What places would you prefer going to then?” Kyungsoo asks, unable to keep his curiosity to himself this time.

Yixing smiles, takes a sip of his drink and never replies.

They naturally turn to look at the two drag queens on stage wearing wedding dresses and lip-synching to the song. Kyungsoo is sitting directly behind Yixing so he can clearly see all the looks he gets, how many men stop to touch his shoulder, his hand, his cheek; he hears the filthy things they whisper in his ear, talk of sex and talk of money. 

It sounds like all of them have been intimate with Yixing and the notion sits in Kyungsoo’s thoughts for the rest of the night, it even follows him as they thank the bartender and exit the place. His feelings are a mess, but he can’t place any of them properly.

He thought stepping inside a gay club would have cleared more doubts than create more, but unfortunately that’s not what happened. The only thing he has understood is that the entire world seems to pivot around Yixing.

Kyungsoo is startled by the force with which he is being led into a narrow street between the buildings, away from the blinding LEDs of the store signs.

He's with his back on the wall and Yixing's standing in front of him. He takes a hold of both of his hands and once again Kyungsoo is being guided to touch him, although this time it stays limited to the area above his pants.

"You heard them right?”

Kyungsoo can only guess what he is talking about, but he feels pretty sure of his answer when he nods.

“Yeah…” Yixing seems to deflate, Kyungsoo looks at the contrite emotions rushing over his features, “I didn’t want you to find out like this, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Kyungsoo awkwardly pats his back, trying to cheer him up.

“I get it if you don’t want to spend time with me anymore.” Yixing is so serious, Kyungsoo is not sure what to say. He doesn’t really have a say on what Yixing does in his free time, he’s really not as bothered by it as he thinks he is.

As he tells that to himself, his mind takes him back to what happened just a few days before, how bitter and envious he was at the sight of the stranger in the club being so intimate with Yixing. Nothing of what he saw tonight can be compared to the aura Yixing and that man emitted, but even if he had seen anything of the sort, he would have no right to even comment about it.

“I’d love to spend more time with you.” Kyungsoo has a slip of the tongue, it’s not that he doesn’t mean it, it’s that he means it in a way that would probably make Yixing uncomfortable. 

“Really?” Yixing asks, Kyungsoo gulps at the sight of the man in front of him biting his lip “Even if I told you I wanted to kiss you?" Yixing's voice whispers, his lips graze the skin of Kyungsoo's ear.

Kyungsoo gulps even louder, he feels his throat ripple. The beating of his heart covers all the noise around them. He feels suspended in a bubble, excited and nervous, all worries forgotten.

He raises his eyes and sees Yixing smiling, Kyungsoo can't speak to tell him properly how hard he wants him to act on his words, but he tries to communicate it through a more physical reaction. He’s not sure Yixing will get it, when he raises sweaty, trembling hands to hold his waist. Fortunately the message seems to have come across, because moments later Yixing's lips are on his.

Kyungsoo knows he shouldn’t be doing it, but the nervousness makes him keep his mouth shut, his closed eyes open wide when he feels Yixing's chest vibrate against his.

He's laughing, gorgeous and unforgiving, so achingly perfect. Kyungsoo feels dazed as he takes in the sight of his happy eyes, his scrunched nose, his deep dimples.

"You're so far from the kind of men I like," Yixing's arms circle his neck, the revelation dampens Kyungsoo's mood, despite the fact that he had already guessed that would be the case. To be honest he isn't sure whose type he would be really,

"But there's something about you…" Yixing continues after a pause, Kyungsoo feels his eyes look directly into his for long seconds before their faces move closer to each other and Yixing kisses him again. This time around Kyungsoo feels encouraged by his words and lets his lips part, instinctually he starts pushing instead of letting Yixing do everything.

He is terrified by the way he feels his body tingle. The fear of his pants becoming uncomfortably tight at any moment starts building up. He is unable to put a stop to it though, he can't pull away from Yixing's soft lips and their sweet taste.

He's only one step away from descending into insanity, when Yixing detaches himself to breathe, Kyungsoo's heart speeds up at the sight of his flushed cheeks.

"I thought you had never kissed anyone before, but you proved me wrong." Yixing goes limp against Kyungsoo, his arms circle the latter's neck.

Kyungsoo's ego is pleased by his words, even if those actually were his first kisses, unless Minseok one sidedly smooching him counts too.

"Let's go back." Yixing decides suddenly, Kyungsoo feels himself being pulled along once more, his hand grasped tightly in Yixing's.

As their fingers intertwine, a rush of adrenaline courses through his body, it's thrilling holding another man's hand in the middle of the street and seeing no one care.

No one holds the same judgement in his brother's eyes, no one directs at him the offensive words his dad uses as a normal part of his vocabulary.

There's people like him everywhere he looks. This is what he was most eager to try during this experience.

It's an incredible added bonus that someone like Yixing is the man helping him experience it. Kyungsoo doesn't try to think too much about the easy way in which his feelings are being stirred, it must be his inexperience's fault. Although the turmoil in his stomach is starting to become hard to ignore.

◊

  
  


Yixing feels how damp Kyungsoo's hand is, remembers the redness taking over his skin and smiles a bit to himself.

What is it about him that sets Yixing off like this?

The clear embarrassment? The awkwardness? The way Kyungsoo just keeps looking at him despite them, completely unwavering and at times confident?

Maybe it's the naive ease with which he accepted him into his life, or perhaps Minseok's right and Yixing just feels too old to still be just a rich men's plaything and needs to try something new.

"Where are we going?" Kyungsoo asks as Yixing ushers them to his car.

Yixing's fingers slot between Kyungsoo's, his thinner, slightly longer ones caress the soft skin of the other's, "Where do you want to take me?" Yixing's head bumps Kyungsoo's, he kisses his cheek swiftly and then moves to the passenger side of the car.

Yixing doesn't think too hard about his own motives, but he knows he wouldn't be disappointed if Kyungsoo brought him back to his hotel room.

"The air's gotten cold, eh?" Kyungsoo talks over the engine starting, his voice and hands tremble at the same unsteady frequency, Yixing wonders if it's wise to let him drive. Instead of voicing his concerns he just thinks of making it worse.

"Are you cold, baby? Let me make it better…" Yixing takes Kyungsoo's right hand off the stick shift and poses it on his knee, he lets it travel upwards, until he has it secured between his thighs, dangerously close to his crotch, "Better?" he smiles, knowing exactly what he is doing.

He sees Kyungsoo's Adam's apple move unnaturally up and down his throat, the sight is amusing and it distracts him enough to surprise him when Kyungsoo's hand moves by itself, his palm laying on his crotch and pressing down.

Yixing's knees close, his head is thrown back. He's been in this position more times than he can remember, so the reaction is instinctual, even if his jeans don't let him feel much of Kyungsoo's unsure touch.

He wonders if Kyungsoo has ever been with someone like him or if he'll be able to tell how rehearsed Yixing's pleasure is.

The ride to the hotel is short, but they risk causing an accident at least twice. 

Yixing is elated by the way Kyungsoo's khakis become all tight, the fabric pitching messily on the hardness resting on his thigh. 

Such a strong reaction out of something so small. He's so cute.

"Pull out your shirt," Yixing advises and already moves to untuck Kyungsoo's shirt out of his pants, "It'll be less noticeable."

He is offering genuine help, but it seems to be too nosy for Kyungsoo's taste, who grabs his wrist strongly and with a serious voice he tells him to let him do it by himself.

"Is it too much? Do you need a break?" Yixing keeps a bit of worry in his tone, but his hand rests on Kyungsoo's thigh instead of leaving completely, testing the boundary that Kyungsoo needs.

Kyungsoo's chest heaves, Yixing can see him look at his hand momentarily before grabbing it. Yixing expects him to ask for more space, instead he pulls him closer, 

"I need to cum."Kyungsoo sighs out, a shiver runs up Yixing's back, he can't keep the lascivious smile off his lips as he bends down and nuzzles the hardness. The angle makes it more difficult than it needs to be, but Yixing manages to undo the fastening on his pants.

Tight, black boxers and a fat cock head peeking from the fabric around his right leg is the sight that welcomes him. He doesn't think twice before digging in the meal being offered to him. 

Yixing looks up as he drags Kyungsoo's underwear down. 

Kyungsoo is so flushed, as red as a boiled octopus. Yixing's weirded out by the way his heart seizes up, but Kyungsoo is just so… 

It's better if he stops thinking about it.

He downs easily half of his cock, he feels his jaw go slack to accommodate the width. He is so thick, so heavy and he isn't even fully hard yet.

"Oh god, I can't believe this is happening to me…" Kyungsoo looks away from Yixing and covers his eyes with his hand.

"Having regrets, boss?" Yixing pushes, thinking Kyungsoo's afraid of sleeping with an employee.

"What? No!" This is the most inhibited he's seen him, his usually unperturbed expression broken by so many emotions that Yixing finds it difficult to list them, "I just can't believe I get to lose my virginity with you… You're so out of my league."

Yixing pauses. Then immediately sits up.

"You…" he quickly pulls Kyungsoo's underwear back up and stares at him in shock, "Never had sex before?

"Well… I've been kissed by Minseok I guess, but that's it." Kyungsoo tries to adjust himself, Yixing left him half hanging out of his undergarments, it must have been uncomfortable. When he speaks while looking down his full lips curl lightly, making him look pouty; it makes Yixing want to reach out and help him and give him anything else he might want as well.

He feels like he's seeing him for the first time, as if until now he couldn't grasp how young, how far away from his world he is.

"I have to go." Yixing looks at Kyungsoo's furrowed eyebrows and wide eyes one last time, then gets himself out of the car, back into the cold wind of the night.

He raises his arm to stop a cab. He finally breathes again when he's sitting inside it and his ears are filled by the sweet notes of Vivaldi's Winter. 


	3. Chapter 3

Being rejected is not that big of a deal.

Kyungsoo continues repeating in his head as he sits on the hard hotel mattress and looks at his cum stained pants.

Honestly, being rejected truly is not that big of a deal if you cum hands-free immediately after being left alone.

The image of Yixing with his cock in his mouth, the feeling of his tongue stroking his underside are burned so vividly in his brain that he could use them to get off for the rest of his life, but the disgusted face that comes after it makes him want to forget the night all together.

He lets his back fall on the bed, still clothed, sticky and tired.

He regrets having said anything, but considering Yixing's reaction, it's better that he did, despite how horrible it feels. At least he thinks that’s what he should be saying.

Kyungsoo doesn't understand anything and doesn't even try to.

Having spent twenty-five years of his life void of romantic debacles hasn't prepared him for situations like these, all he can do is start learning from here on out.

He continues to soothe himself with grand thoughts about growth and learning, but it doesn't change the sting of bitterness on his tongue, the way his hands remember the texture of Yixing's soft hair, the fact that his heart feels so strongly for him.

Eventually he decides to fall asleep, he doesn't even have the strength to clean himself before pushing his way under the covers.

He imagines what it would have been like to have Yixing laying by his side, accepting him, smiling at him or even laughing at him, anything that isn't making him feel like he wasn't even good enough for a one night stand.

Dedicating himself to work the next morning comes easier than expected, his head hurts, but it helps him not to think about anything that isn't earnings and workshifts.

Maybe a bit hastily he decides to change all the suppliers of the club with cheaper ones, but that offer the same or better quality. 

He makes a list using the one he got from Mr. Cheng and spends the entire day visiting the warehouses, talking about possible contracts and prices.

He sees some of the old men scrunch their noses as he tells them where his workplace is, but none flat out reject the possibility of working with him.

Taking all these decisions by himself doesn't feel right though and he's sure it definitely won't make him more popular among the crew of the club.

His eyes linger over the  _ Yixing _ and the telephone number scribbled by its side in the planner on Junmyeon's desk, but he quickly looks away, settling for the only other contact who could help him.

"Hello?" Kyungsoo fidgets with the pages as the man on the other end of the line picks up.

"Hi, I'm Kyungsoo." he says, waiting for a reaction,

"Oh! Yes," the tone from the first day is back, Junmyeon sounds polite, but nervous, "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to apologize for the other day," Kyungsoo starts, "And ask you to come back to work. I understand if you need more time, but-"

"When?" Junmyeon cuts him off,

"Tomorrow morning would be perfect."

"I'll be there!" Junmyeon clears his voice after his tone jumps from excitement.

As they exchange their parting greetings, Kyungsoo sighs out in relief and starts packing his things.

A weight has been lifted off his shoulders, but a much more pressing, persistent one stays and Kyungsoo isn't sure he'll ever be able to get rid of it completely.

◊

Sitting at home with nothing to do is killing Yixing.

He's spent the entire day wasting time on his phone and switching channels on the television. Nothing among the sappy dramas, music contests and news programs grabs his attention, so around lunchtime Sehun decides to pry the remote control from his cold hands and steal half of the couch.

“So?” he says out of nowhere after putting on a cooking show, they’re showing how to prepare Peking duck, 

“So what?” Yixing asks, his eyebrows furrow as the elegant lady on the screen watches a guy in a chef hat pump air in a poor headless duck.

“You’ve been at home all day, Tao has convinced himself you’re sick and sent me to investigate.” Sehun pushes back his silky brown hair and stares off out of the french window to their right, seemingly ignoring both Yixing and the program he carefully chose.

“You can tell him I’m fine, I’m just enjoying my day off.” Sehun turns to look at him completely serious,

“You’re just asking for him to get a panic attack.” he says matter-of-factly, Yixing knows Zitao can be a bit emotional, but what is so traumatic about him spending a day on the couch?

“What? How? What have I done?” he airs out his questions,

“Yeah…” Sehun’s eyes squint, “What have you done?”

“Nothing?”

“Come on, tell me, you know I’m the only good listener in this house.” Sehun closes his eyes and crosses his arms, Yixing has always found the way he acts astonishing, just by looking at his perfect posture and excessively poised gestures you can tell what kind of upbringing he has had.

“Just,” Yixing starts, he sits up and unwillingly takes in the image of an uncooked duck being hung and glazed by syrup, “A hookup went wrong.”

Sehun’s eyes open in a flash and his entire body turns stiffly to look at Yixing, “Do we need to call the police? Call the thugs from the third floor? They owe me a favour, so-”

“No, nothing happened to me.”

“I’ll take care of it!” Zitao barges into the conversation from behind the door to his and Sehun’s bedroom. Despite the bravery of his exclamation, his outburst is met with cold silence.

“I said nothing happened to me,” Yixing groans, his fingers scratch his scalp, “It wasn’t work, I just wanted to have sex, but…” He looks at the two’s interested gazes and sighs, “He was a virgin.”

They both retreat instinctually, gritting their teeth, 

“Damn… Where did you find a sixty year old virgin?” Sehun asks, Tao’s mouth goes slack, Yixing doesn’t know what it says about him that Tao would believe such a thing so easily. 

“Ha ha, very funny.” Yixing says without even breaking a smirk, “He’s in his twenties.”

“That’s honestly the only shocking part of the story.” Sehun starts looking at his nails, like he’s already over the conversation, on the other hand Tao comes forward to continue asking,

“Who?”

“I’m not going to say.” Yixing stands up, not enjoying the route the conversation is taking,

“Taemin? Yukhei?” Zitao starts listing Yangpu regulars, Yixing shakes his head and walks to his room,

“You know, on a second thought, I think I’ll go out.” 

He wears a pair of slick trousers and a brown sweater, the way its deep v neck reaches down to his pecs kind of defeats the purpose of wearing a garment made of wool, but that could be said about most of the clothing Yixing owns. 

Once again, he autopilots his feet until he reaches Yangpu, he darts one forlorn glance at the turned off sign of his workplace and then enters Zhiting’s bar.

Finding Junmyeon and Kyungsoo sitting together at a table wasn’t exactly among the scenes he expected to walk into.

◊

After an extremely productive day, Kyungsoo feels thankful when Junmyeon invites him to get a drink. Maybe he would have been even more thankful if he didn’t choose the bar Yixing took him to the night before. 

“I feel really good about today.” Kyungsoo nods at Junmyeon’s words, he remembers idly the initial awkwardness, which was completely overpowered as soon as they started to work.

“I do too, I think we work well together.” Kyungsoo raises his glass and smiles when his companion bumps his own into it.

“I’m sorry for giving you a hard time the other day.” Junmyeon says moments before downing the drink, “I was set on making things work without changing anything, but I understand what you meant now.”

“I want to apologize too, I kinda appeared out of nowhere and started to meddle into everything.” Kyungsoo’s expression is serious, “But I wanted to prove myself, I want my dad to be proud of me.”

Junmyeon’s hands grasp his shirt, “You’re such a good kid,” He holds his forehead in his hand and raises his other arm “Zhiting, another one!”

Kyungsoo has a hard time pinpointing when things started to turn for the worst, but before he can realize it, Junmyeon is sobbing into his shoulder, drunk out of his mind.

“That fucking dickhead, he said he was going to marry me, instead he dropped me and the club like a sack of potatoes.” From what Kyungsoo has been able to make out, the previous owner used to be Junmyeon’s boyfriend, his name must have been Yifan, considering how much he curses after uttering that name.

Kyungsoo pats his back and tries to comfort him, he’s trying his best even if it’s the first time he’s ever found himself in this position.

“What’s this? I didn’t let you go yesterday to see you end up with another hag in your arms." 

Kyungsoo takes his time before looking at the man joining their table, he sits on the chair Junmyeon had been occupying at the beginning of the night.

"He drank too much." Kyungsoo only glances at him, he thought he would be able to act normally when he saw him again, but it's harder than he thought.

He can't place his emotions, he's all over the place. Bitter, embarrassed, confused. Disappointed.

Yixing orders a drink and shares some small talk with a barely awake Junmyeon, Kyungsoo looks out of the large window at the people walking the streets. He notices almost immediately how every store has a sign announcing special events for Halloween, it must be quite remunerative.

"So? You have nothing to say to me?" Yixing continues to rub salt in his wounds,

Kyungsoo looks at him to see who he had been referring to, he's not happy to find him staring at him.

"What could I possibly say?" Kyungsoo's thoughts find quickly the worst possible reasons behind Yixing's question and in the moment he believes all of them. "It's clear you had your fun, so we can just act like coworkers now."

He must have wanted that to happen, to make fun of him in such a way that would stain Kyungsoo's memories for many years to come. None of the dancers liked him since he arrived, why would Yixing feel any different. It's Kyungsoo's own fault that he ended up falling for his tricks.

"I'll take Junmyeon to the office." Kyungsoo stands up and picks up his drunken coworker. When it's clear that Yixing won't be adding anything else, he pays their bill and drags Junmyeon down the street to their building.

  
  


◊

  
  


Yixing's mind is blank, the echo of Kyungsoo's words is the only sound filling the silence.

Yixing knew it wasn't going to be a great conversation from the moment he tried to joke about what happened and Kyungsoo burned him alive with a single glance.

He leaves his drink untouched and follows the other two out of the club. Leaving things like this doesn't sit right with him, he doesn't want Kyungsoo to misunderstand him. 

When he steps outside the bar, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon have already disappeared inside  _ Mirage _ , Yixing stations himself just outside waiting for Kyungsoo to re-emerge from the building.

Yixing's hands palm his pockets, they search for his cigarettes, as an attempt to take the edge off his emotions.

Yixing can't accept it, the idea that Kyungsoo thinks he has been making fun of him. Sure, Yixing can't just say he had been looking for anything serious, but he's not ashamed to admit that the attraction he feels is real, that even now he would gladly spend a night of passion with him.

Yixing is just too self aware to let himself go to that extent, he's not good for Kyungsoo and he's sure he'll understand after he explains himself.

Eventually, he finds the half empty package, but before he can pull one of the sticks out, Kyungsoo appears from behind the door.

Kyungsoo's eyes end up on him almost immediately, just something as simple as that still sends shivers up Yixing’s back, but the tightness in his features once he realizes who he is looking at, hits Yixing like a bucket of gelid water.

"Are you going home already?" Yixing starts following him to his car, but he doesn't expect Kyungsoo to turn and put a hand forward, signalling him to stop.

"I appreciate the thought, but I need some time off from... This." Yixing stops in his tracks, Kyungsoo doesn't look at him anymore, his constantly unsure hands hover around him like everyone else's. It hurts when he realizes this how things need to be from now on.

"Okay, sorry." Yixing steps back, "I just don't want you to get it wrong, I wasn't playing a prank on you. I know how it sounds, but that kind of thing… Don't waste it on people like me. I'm sure most of the guys here would be more than glad to have something serious with you."

Kyungsoo stays quiet, his eyes move slowly from the people crowding the street that Yixing is pointing at to Yixing himself.

Yixing can't place the outpour of emotions he sees in Kyungsoo's eyes. He realizes his words are cliche, maybe patronising even, but Yixing genuinely just wants him to get the best possible experience.

Yixing has his fair share of regrets, but losing his virginity to a random guy after sneaking out behind his grandad's back will always be at the top of the list. 

Kyungsoo crosses his arms and leans against his car, "I wish you had just let me go quietly, because hearing you say this only makes me want to have you even more."

Yixing's heart sinks, he thinks it's dread, but it's just plain excitement.

"Hearing how seriously you've thought about it, it's proof it wouldn't be a wasted experience," He raises his hands, his padded jacket emits an awful plastic-like sound every time he moves, "But don't worry, I've learned my lesson."

"You should be looking for someone who can have a relationship with you." Yixing says,

"And why can't you do it?" Kyungsoo's question is simple and direct, but he doesn't give Yixing any time to answer, "It's okay, I'm not blind, even someone like me can guess you are with someone already."

Yixing's eyebrows furrow, not knowing who he could be referring to, he opens his mouth to ask, but Kyungsoo butts in again,

"The client from the other night," Kyungsoo sighs and turns to open the door of his car, "I thought you looked intimate, but I still chose to believe you may actually want to be with me… Out of work, I guess." 

"I wasn't going to charge you for fucking you, if that's what you're thinking." Yixing gets out spitefully, hating what he sees of his image in Kyungsoo's mind "And I'm not going out with anyone."

"Then what is this about? If you're waiting for me to say that I accept your apology, then don't worry about it. It's fine, I get it, you don't need to apologise." Kyungsoo is seated behind his wheel, he talks to Yixing from the half opened window on his car door.

The image is evocative, but the memories rushing to his head aren't as hurtful as Kyungsoo's stern stare and the lack of emotion in his voice.

This is going nowhere, so Yixing raises his hands, decides to walk back until he can’t distinguish Kyungsoo’s face from the darkness in his car anymore and leaves.

He moves straight to the line outside of the only dance club in the area, nothing like booming noise music can get him to stop thinking.

The bouncer recognizes him and motions for him to come forward and cut the line, "Remember about this next time I call you." he winks, but Yixing barely pays him any mind.

The impact with the room is harsh: the blinding lights, the strong smell of sweat and alcohol. He sees joints and pills being passed around right under the nose of the security guards. He pushes through, trying not to think of the blurred memories of the times when he was right in the middle of it.

Just more proof that someone like him has nothing to offer to someone like Kyungsoo. 

Someone who ran away from home and lost his mind on pills in his first month in Shanghai, someone who was able to recover only thanks to someone he thought loved him, but, for as nice as he might be, only ever cared about fucking him.

He wishes Kyungsoo would understand.

The booming music can't mute his inner voice, pressing insistently, replaying the conversation until none of the words make any sense.

"What's a stray kitten doing in a place like this?" Yixing is startled by the voice filtering in his ear, he turns and finds the man from the station, "I went to visit you, but everything was closed." he pulls the business card of Yixing's workplace from his pocket.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood tonight." Yixing cuts the conversation and puts some distance between them, going back to minding his business.

"I'll take care of that sweetheart, I can't wait to have you sitting all pretty on my cock again." Yixing turns, feeling increasingly less prone to behave politely.

"Come back another day, man." Yixing takes a few more steps in the middle of the crowd, but he's stopped by a hand on his nape, pulling him back.

"Is that any way to talk to a master?" Yixing has been nice once, twice, but he can't stomach a third time tonight. He turns and without thinking about what he is doing he swings his arm and pushes his flat palm against the man's chest.

"Back the fuck off." he shouts, but should have expected the blow he gets after that. A dull pain extends over the entire left side of his face following the man's punch, instead of calling for help he raises his leg and kicks the man's shin. He continues to hit and be hit and the guy just laughs, who knows high on what or finding sick pleasure in a fist fight that is tearing Yixing apart more mentally than physically.

By the time they're separated and kicked out, Yixing is hurting all over, but at least his brain is empty. He fishes his phone out of his pocket, needing to ask Lei if he can let him stay the night.

"What happened to you?" A familiar voice raises from the line still in front of the club.

Yixing looks up and sees Kyungsoo step out of the queue, concern written all over his face.

"Some dickhead wouldn't leave me alone." He says, sounding slightly dazed, he is not sure if it's his imagination that is making him see Kyungsoo.

Reality finally sinks in when Kyungsoo holds his waist and helps him stand up.

“Do you prefer coming to my hotel room or going home?” Yixing closes his eyes, wants to taste every last syllable of his warm voice. He wants Kyungsoo and he doesn’t have any more will to push him away.

He looks at the inhibited concern on his face, at his eyes finally locked with his again, for a long moment he stays quiet and then he speaks “Home.”

  
  


◊

  
  


“You don’t have to look at me like that, it’s not the first time it happens.” Kyungsoo hears Yixing say as he inspects the ugly bruises on his arms,

“That doesn’t really make the situation any better.” Kyungsoo sighs and moves his right hand on Yixing’s face, to look at the dried blood on the side of his lips, “Doing yourself up like this doesn’t really help that whole mature façade you were trying to sell to me.”

“I just-” Yixing’s words die in his throat as he makes a rash movement with his right leg,

“It hurts?” Kyungsoo puts his hands on his hips as he looks at the listless body on the couch in front of him.

“It’s fine.” Yixing covers his eyes with his arm and Kyungsoo stays still on his feet, feeling completely out of place.

The place isn’t as small as he expected it to be, there are three bedrooms and one bathroom. Yixing seems to really like knick-knacks, his fridge is full of magnets and all over the furniture there are small statues of fairies, anime figures and other random things. Although, their presence can’t be compared to the amount of pictures scattered everywhere, Kyungsoo recognizes many of the dancers from the club, Junmyeon is in them too.

It’s easy to understand what Yixing had meant when he was talking about him living in a hotel room, but this is much more foreign to Kyungsoo. He was brought up in the kind of household that’s filled with expensive contemporary art and nannies, he can’t say one is better than the other, but he feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb among all these deeply personal belongings.

“Can you turn on the stereo? There’s a cd inside” Yixing points at the small portable radio Kyungsoo hadn’t noticed,

“Wow, I haven’t seen one of these in a while!” He messes with the controls, he’s not sure he remembers how to operate one and he thinks he’s made a mistake when he hears classical music vibrate through the air. He pushes the pause button and tries to change track, but nothing changes.

“Is it so unbelievable that I would enjoy some Schubert from time to time?” Yixing laughs from the couch.

“...It’s a bit unexpected.” Kyungsoo ponders his words, he never really thought what kind of music Yixing might like listening to, but he would have never been able to guess correctly.

“My grandpa likes to play the piano a lot, so I ended up developing a taste for it.” Kyungsoo shows he understands with a small nod. Junmyeon has been talking to him about the dancers quite a bit lately and among all the information he dumped on him, he’s been able to learn that Yixing was born in a city in Hunan and that he grew up with his grandparents. Kyungsoo thinks about asking, but he quickly shoves the idea at the back of his mind. 

“I’m sorry the house is a mess.” Yixing’s voice is timed perfectly with the tugging on the sleeve of Kyungsoo’s black turtleneck.

Kyungsoo pushes his glasses up his nose and clears his throat, “It’s a nice place.”

“Kyungsoo…” Yixing starts again and continues to pull on his clothes until he’s kneeling on the floor, right beside him.

“Do you need anything? More water?” Kyungsoo points mindlessly at the empty glass on the small table to his right.

Yixing shakes his head and clumsily moves closer, he goes limp again when his forehead poses on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, “Please believe me, I’m really sorry.” 

Kyungsoo lets silence hang in the air for a short moment, his eyebrows furrow, "It's okay, I know." he's a bit embarrassed of his earlier outburst, he didn't even actually think what he said and thought at the moment, but he needed to rationalize everything in some way and that's the first solution that came to his dazed brain. 

“If I knew I wouldn’t have…” Yixing’s head raises as he speaks, his eyes seem unfocused, until something on Kyungsoo’s face catches his attention and he interrupts himself. Kyungsoo is flustered by the way he’s staring at him, but he tries not to let it show.

“What is it?” Yixing’s somber tone picks up speed and shifts to something more curious, “Are you shy?” he questions as his vision zero in on his eyes,

“No, it’s just… I don’t know why you’re staring at me.”

Yixing slowly pulls himself up, his right hand touches the spot on his side, where Kyungsoo knows he’s hiding another bruise, “Getting a taste of your own medicine, eh?”

Kyungsoo’s confusion morphs his features, “What do you mean?”

“Are you not aware of the way you stare at me?” Yixing’s cold fingers raise to caress Kyungsoo’s face. 

The hair on Kyungsoo’s nape stands up at the first contact, his touch is gentle, but the tips of his fingers feel rough, they trickle the areas where Kyungsoo can feel his stubble already growing.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t realize he had been staring at him, what he finds surprising is how much it actually seemed to affect Yixing.

“I’m sorry, if I made you uncomfortable.” he pushes out,

“Uncomfortable? Is that how being stared at by me makes you feel?” Yixing’s legs move to encase Kyungsoo’s body. Kyungsoo feels himself tremble from the amount of excitement rushing through his system. 

Yixing has made it clear, he doesn’t want what Kyungsoo wants, but why do his actions keep disproving him?

“What were you about to say?” Kyungsoo asks, referring to the earlier sentence that Yixing left unfinished.

“I don’t remember.” Yixing’s voice jumps, perhaps simply because of his sudden movement forward or maybe because he struck the chord of one of the pains ruling over his body.

The lucidity to worry about him stays with Kyungsoo for mere moments, after he finds himself locking lips with Yixing again. He relies on his inner voice to remind him to breathe this time and to at least try to take the initiative.

“Who did you practice with?” Yixing’s smiling, but the hold on Kyungsoo’s short hair grows tighter.

“How could I practice with anyone else? You’re the only person on my mind.” Kyungsoo gets up, his hands take Yixing’s narrow waist gently as he positions himself above him, “Don’t run away this time, please.” 

Yixing circles his arms around his neck, "First door on the right, it's my room."

Kyungsoo's hands travel to the back of Yixing's thighs to get a proper hold on him and pick him up.

Yixing shrieks and tightens his fists around the fabric of Kyungsoo's shirt. They travel safely to Yixing's large bed, Kyungsoo craves to take a look at what he keeps in his room, but there are more pressing matters to attend to.

"You're stronger than you look." Yixing lays disheveled over his covers, his wavy hair spreads out at funny angles, but it doesn't take anything away from his beauty.

"You're just light." Kyungsoo doesn't know how he's still able to speak with the clump of nervousness lodged in his throat.

"No," He pulls himself up lazily, "Show me." he pushes Kyungsoo's shirt up.

His hand isn't as cold as it was minutes before, but his touch makes Kyungsoo jolt anyway. 

It's not like Kyungsoo has been hiding an incredible body this whole time, he certainly pales in comparison with Yixing's, but the long years he spent in a dojo learning judo still show their effects on his appearance.

Yixing tugs and pushes the shirt off Kyungsoo hastily, his glasses are knocked off his face and he has to squint to see. Kyungsoo feels like sighing in relief as Yixing's hands attach themselves to his torso and his neck extends as far as it'll go to ask for a kiss.

Yixing leads again, but he's messy and open mouthed, he whispers as Kyungsoo pecks his cheeks, chin and anywhere else he can reach, "You look so hot."

Kyungsoo's lips part, the praise goes straight to his hardening crotch.

"You're so handsome." Yixing continues, 

"Not as much as you." Kyungsoo pushes out, his hands tremble as he pushes a strand of hair off Yixing's face, "The first time I saw you, I thought you walked right out of a dream."

Yixing pulls a weird face and his hands move up to Kyungsoo's biceps. 

Kyungsoo feels Yixing's fingers squeeze his flesh and use the grip to lower Kyungsoo over himself.

Kyungsoo doesn't know how to behave when Yixing's legs intertwine with his and his hands leave his arms to get to the fastening of his own pants.

"Help me get these off." Yixing demands and Kyungsoo listens.

The button of Yixing's dress pants slides between Kyungsoo's nervous hands, he tries once, twice, countless times to get rid of it, but his uncharacteristic impatience is taking a toll on his most basic functions.

"Calm down." Yixing laughs and pecks his lips, "You're making me feel nervous too!" he takes the matter into his own hands and starts working on his pants. Kyungsoo gasps so abruptly that he almost chokes on his spit at the leopard print of Yixing's small underwear.

Kyungsoo sits back on his knees and holds a hand on his chest.

"I'm afraid I might wake up in my bed with my pants dirty at any moment." 

Yixing's lips part in a smile, "Does that happen a lot?" He pulls himself up and Kyungsoo feels himself being enveloped again.

"A bit too often since I met you." Kyungsoo admits, even if he thinks Yixing will be weirded out by it.

Yixing gets his brown sweater off by himself and lays back down, "Show me how we do it in your imagination, then." his hands trail over his newly undressed skin, "But if you ask me to top you, I'll leave right now."

Kyungsoo swallows around nothing and leaves the bed to shed the rest of his clothes, "Can you… Turn on your front?" He pushes out despite the shame he is feeling.

"A lot less wild than I expected." Yixing comments while rolling on his bed, but Kyungsoo barely listens, he's too occupied breaking out in a cold sweat at the view he is being offered.

Kyungsoo's hands tremble the whole way to touching skin, he regains some strength only as he is able to hold the animalier fabric of his thong between his fingers and sees it push against Yixing's soft flesh as he gets it off him.

He spreads his ass open tentatively, at the first peek at his entrance his eyes dart to the ceiling. He feels like he's walking on eggshells, one false step and he'll come before even getting near penetrating him.

Yixing doesn't allow him any downtime, though, one seconds after he is pushing his ass up and hitting Kyungsoo's sides with his feet, "This is it?" he asks impatiently.

"Give me a second…" It's what Kyungsoo says, but his own body doesn't listen to him. He bends down, aligns his face with Yixing's ass. He's seen enough porn to have a general idea of what he needs to do, but he's still unsure as he kisses Yixing's skin and slowly makes his way to his entrance.

"Oh?" Kyungsoo sees Yixing look at him from above his shoulder, there's something incredible about the way his firm flesh molds itself around his movements, Kyungsoo wishes he could touch and kiss all of him constantly. 

He eyes excitedly his wide shoulders and the expanse of his back, the way his body dips at his perfect waist. He can't wait anymore and takes a first taste of his feast, he pushes his lips against his hole.

The skin is wrinkled and lightly sour, his tongue licks over it insistently, searching more of those sensations.

"Hey, calm down." Yixing poses a hand on his head and caresses his hair gently, "It doesn't feel good like that." 

Kyungsoo is startled by his words, "Sorry!" he tries to get up, but Yixing keeps him where he is, 

"Flatten your tongue," Kyungsoo looks at him, very little of his horny confidence is left, but he follows the instruction anyways, "Feel around a little before you start slabbering like a feral animal."

Kyungsoo's tongue pushes against the wrinkled skin, he lets it sit there until he feels Yixing's tenseness melt away and his entrance give in to his pushing. 

"Good," Yixing sounds breathier, his words mix with encouraging hums of pleasure, "Now lick around it slowly, I'm already stretched out so whenever you want you can get in…"

Kyungsoo's nostrils flare and his eyes close at the green light he is given, he takes a minute to lick over his rim and help build up his pleasure. As he pushes in, he senses Yixing become tighter, so he uses his hands to spread his ass and keep him somewhat relaxed.

"A natural" Yixing breathes out, his front falls back on the mattress and his ass pushes back against Kyungsoo's face.

The reaction feeds Kyungsoo's self-confidence, but also takes him one step up the ladder to climax.

Kyungsoo draws back and takes in the sight, the sheen on Yixing's entrance and his cock hard between his legs. Without thinking about it, Kyungsoo grips his hip and pushes his back against the mattress to take a better look at him.

"This is insane," Kyungsoo struggles to breath, "You're so beautiful." He sees Yixing look away from him, one of his hands tries to cover his flushed face.

Kyungsoo takes a hold of it and shoves it away, he leans over Yixing until their noses brush against each other and he can kiss him again.

Kyungsoo doesn't think he'll be able to last long, he feels it in the way his legs tremble and his hands fidget senselessly against Yixing's pectoral muscles.

"Get inside," Yixing strokes the back of his head and pecks the sides of his face. Kyungsoo's heart misses a beat, the amount of excitement gathered in his body feels unnatural, he’s scared by how strong his reactions are. Yixing moves away from him for a minute to rummage in the drawer of his bedside table. He produces a string of condoms and a half empty bottle of lube, “Put one on and lube up.”

Kyungsoo stays frozen as the bottle hits him square in his chest, looking at Yixing adjusting himself over the sheets, “My sides hurt too much for missionary,” he explains but Kyungsoo has no idea what he is talking about, his vision is focused on his body laying on his left side, “Let me stay here and look pretty.”

“Sure.” Kyungsoo gulps, there was absolutely no chance of him saying anything else, “You always look so pretty…” he feels like adding and he’s glad to see Yixing smile coyly at him in response.

He grabs one of the squared, red packets and tears it open from the angle fitted for that purpose, his nose scrunches at the strong perfume as he pulls the condom out from its tip.

“Not a fan of cherry scents?” Yixing giggles, turning a bit to look at what Kyungsoo is doing. Kyungsoo panics slightly at the feeling of being stared at as he goes through the motions of an action he’s never had to perform before. He’s extremely nervous, but his cock gives no signs of calming down.

Kyungsoo forgets to answer the question, so it hangs in the air as he spurts lube over his dick and spreads some over Yixing too.

“Go slow.” Yixing advises and Kyungsoo tries to take it to heart and not think about the embarrassing nights from his teenage years that he spent practicing his thrust game on pillows.

The two words echo in his head like a mantra, but the moment his tip breaches past Yixing’s entrance his own hips thrust out of their own free will and before he can realize it he’s fully sheathed inside him.

Yixing’s back arches, Kyungsoo sees him grab fistful of the sheets before his eyes close and his body is shaken by strong shudders. There’s pleasure tearing him apart, making him see double and then in a moment the fog of bliss dissipates and Kyungsoo’s senses are heightened. He can feel every single drop of sweat rolling down his back, the warmth of Yixing’s hand against his chest, his unbelievable tightness gripping his cock and a dull throbbing surging from his crotch and expanding over his entire body.

Yixing laughs and brings Kyungsoo back to earth, his ears ring and burn as he realizes what just happened, “You came?” Yixing asks and Kyungsoo falls on him and hides his face against his neck in response.

He can see Yixing’s still smiling, but he reaches behind himself and strokes Kyungsoo’s hair reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it, it’s normal.” 

“Don’t say anything, please.” Kyungsoo’s words are muffled by how deep into Yixing’s nape he’s trying to hide. 

Yixing grants him his wish, but he doesn’t sit still. His hands take Kyungsoo’s and adjust them around his waist, Kyungsoo tightens the hold and Yixing leaves them alone to reach around and squeeze Kyungsoo’s ass.

Kyungsoo sees Yixing’s head turn, his side profile standing out like a painting against the dim rays of the city lights coming from the only window in the room.

“You didn’t even go soft,” he whispers going against Kyungsoo’s ashamed request, “Put a new condom on and fuck me.”

Kyungsoo breathes out from his lips, Yixing’s voice makes the hair on his arms stand on end. No matter what he says, his voice always sounds sweet and soothing, even as he riles up Kyungsoo’s weakened heart with his demands.

Kyungsoo gets out of Yixing with some difficulty, the tightness of his rim sets off sparks over his sensitive skin. He looks forlornly at the tip of the condom filled with thick, white fluid and his cock still standing proud, still all ready to go. 

Yixing lays on his back and sighs out, his legs bend at the knees and spread out, he flinches as he puts a pillow under his lower back, “Does it hurt?”, Kyungsoo asks concerned,

“Just try not to bend me too much.” Yixing speaks while his legs raise to pose on Kyungsoo’s shoulders, “Stay like this.” Kyungsoo’s hands grab his thighs as he agrees. He feels something tickle his right knee and when he looks down, he sees the tips of Yixing’s fingers trying to reach him. He immediately takes his right hand off Yixing’s thigh to meet his hand, he smiles up at him and Kyungsoo’s heart misses a handful of beats.

Kyungsoo feels like he has more control over his movements when he’s lined up with Yixing’s entrance again. His cock kicks as he brushes against his rim, but when he enters he is able to reel in his rationality and accompany his intrusion with a smooth roll of hips.

“Yeah…” Yixing’s hand tightens his hold on his palm, his nails dig into his skin.

“Are you ok?” Kyungsoo asks, his voice sounds ragged and his limbs tremble as he enters him fully.

Yixing nods and moves his left leg from Kyungsoo’s right shoulder to the other one and crosses it with the leg he had already posed there. The new position tightens the soft flesh around Kyungsoo’s erection and it pulls a low groan out of him. Yixing arches his back to push himself closer, inviting Kyungsoo to move, his chest squeezes and he gives one tentative thrust back and forth, gauging Yixing’s reaction.

He builds his speed slowly, until he sees Yixing’s eyes shut tightly and hears his voice break in a long string of moans.

It’s hard to keep the same composure after that, his cock glides too effortlessly in and out and Yixing encourages him by meeting each of his movements, as if he couldn’t feel comfortable without Kyungsoo’s entire length secured inside him at all times.

Kyungsoo uses his left arm to pick up his legs as he raises himself on his knees, he tries his best not to force Yixing into positions that bite into his bruises while holding him up.

The slight change seems to lodge Kyungsoo’s cock right against the perfect spot inside Yixing, whose entire upper body raises from the bed to stare at Kyungsoo, his mouth opens, but it only releases harsh breaths.

He swears as Kyungsoo picks up his pace even more, the rhythm turns punishing and he tries to nail that same, amazing spot with each of his thrusts.

Yixing releases Kyungsoo’s hand to thread his fingers with his own hair, he swears out and moans, he becomes louder when Kyungsoo grabs his hips and stills his own movements to push Yixing into himself, impale him on his hard cock with all the strength he has in his body.

Kyungsoo feels his climax take over him, but he manages to postpone it long enough to hear Yixing’s voice break in low hiccups and see his dick spill cum over the bouncing flesh of his pecs. Kyungsoo lets himself go then, spilling everything into the condom and held in a vicious grip by Yixing’s hole. 

Kyungsoo feels his whole body thrum. His temples pulse, his stomach clench, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

He falls over and he is so spent that he feels unable to move a single muscle, despite that his tired limbs seem to be filled with an energy he doesn't know how to release.

Through the ringing in his ears he hears Yixing laugh lightly and moments later he sees him move, sitting up on the bed to reach the cigarettes on his nightstand.

Kyungsoo wants to move his head to look at him, but he feels too boneless to act on it.

There are quick bursts of light in the room, accompanied by the mechanical noise of a lighter. Soon the room is filled with the distinct odour of cigarette smoke.

"I never smoke in here, but it's too cold to go outside now." his justification was probably more meant for himself than for Kyungsoo.

"I can't move." Kyungsoo admits after a minute of silence, completely expecting Yixing's laughter.

"It was that good, mh?" His voice is muffled, he keeps the cigarette between his lips as he scoots to lay beside Kyungsoo.

Yixing lies on his side, drapes one of his legs over Kyungsoo's, he uses his free hand to take the stick out of his mouth and offer it to his tired companion. 

Kyungsoo stares confused at the brown end of the cigarette and at Yixing, who looks absolutely fresh and, if possible, even more handsome than usual.

Yixing pushes the burning tobacco to his lips, Kyungsoo parts them as he continues to look at Yixing.

"Breathe it in." He cracks a smile, Kyungsoo does as he's told, feeling curious. He didn't know there would be space to experience more than one first time in one night.

The bitter taste and strange feeling of heavy air flowing in his mouth have him quickly pulling himself back, the sudden movement pushes the smoke deeper in his system and he's forced to cough it out violently. Yixing laughs, again.

"That's foul…" Kyungsoo says while stil choking, he pushes Yixing's hand away and pulls a disgusted face when he sees him take a drag.

Yixing laughs, as he stands up and leaves the room without putting anything on, when he comes back the cigarette is gone and his face is wet, he uses some of the water still on his skin to push his hair back.

He stops after closing the door and looks at Kyungsoo still laying down and feeling like he'll never be able to move again.

“I thought you were tired.” Yixing says.

Kyungsoo looks at him and tilts his head, trying to understand. 

He doesn’t get a vocal response, only Yixing getting on the bed and straddling his thighs. Suddenly Kyungsoo understands,

“Oh,” is the only thing he can say, he is so out of it he didn’t even realize he was working up yet another erection, “Is this normal?” 

“I don’t know,” Yixing bites his lip as he adjusts himself, “Don’t worry, though… I think I have the cure.” His voice stumbles over his last words, spoken just as he sits down on Kyungsoo’s cock.

Kyungsoo wants to make fun of Yixing’s old man dirty talk, but his body forces him to throw his head back; his arms fling up swiftly to grab onto Yixing and before he can gather himself he’s back on his knees, pistoning into Yixing as if none of the fatigue he was feeling had ever been real.

  
  


◊

  
  


It’s been a while since Yixing has left a bed limping.

As he prepares to get up, he looks back at Kyungsoo rolled up in his sheets and sleeping profoundly, he can’t keep the smile off his lips. His stomach twistes and churns and he’s not quite sure if it’s because of the scene or because he needs to eat something.

He walks quietly out of his room, wincing the whole way, for both the effects of yesterday’s fight and of the unleashing of the insatiable beast snoring in his bed. Yixing halts momentarily, while his brain is attacked by the images and the ghosts of the sensations still hovering all around him.

Who would have thought, someone like him would be swooning in this way for a younger guy. A virgin, no less. 

He laughs to himself as he fills the kettle with water.

Yixing is deep into the breakfast preparations when the door of his room creaks open, Kyungsoo emerges from the darkness looking as pale as a ghost. Yixing dries his hands on his apron and turns to look at him waddle around,

“Good morning.” he greets first, Kyungsoo grunts in response and scratches at his stubble. Yixing snorts, he gets closer to the other and messes with his hair while he pours him some tea, “I expected you to be a morning person.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and picks up the warm cup to take a sip. Yixing catches himself looking a bit too fondly at him, so he spins around and directs his attention at the rice noodles on his stove.

A very distinct spitting sound reaches Yixing’s ears and he is prompted to turn again, he finds Kyungsoo with tea dripping from his lips and a large wet stain on his pants.

“What’s wrong?” He rushes to his side, “Too hot?”

“Yes- No! I mean, no.” Kyungsoo shakes his head, seeming much more awake than moments before, “You’re not wearing anything!” he’s positively scandalized.

Yixing’s eyebrows furrow “I am? I thought I had underwear on…” he pulls up the front of his apron and instead of the leopard motif he expected to see, he’s met with the sight of his limp dick, “Oops.” 

Kyungsoo poses his elbows on the table and puts his head in his hands, Yixing laughs out loud at the reaction, “Come on, It’s nothing you haven’t seen already.”

“What did I get myself into?” Yixing feels his chest shake as he laughs even harder. 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, you had a chance to run away and you didn’t.” He takes a hold of Kyungsoo’s shoulders and he uses his strength to straighten him up, “Isn’t it kind of fun? Would you like to eat breakfast, take a bath or… Have me?” Yixing’s eyebrows raise on his forehead as he tries to look sweet and innocent.

“Your sense of humor is broken.” Kyungsoo observes drily and closes his eyes to prepare himself to drink again.

Yixing shrugs, “Your loss.” 

Breakfast is almost ready when Kyungsoo’s chair scoots against the floor and something touches Yixing’s back, while arms circle his waist, “I was joking before.” Kyungsoo speaks against Yixing’s shoulder, “I’m glad I got myself in this.”

Yixing knows what Kyungsoo means, but he doesn’t want to reach the depth of his words, “You’re not the first man glad to have been in me.” This talk is what he wanted to avoid the most and certainly didn’t expect Kyungsoo to bring it up so soon. 

“No,” Kyungsoo holds him closer, his body plasters against Yixing’s back, “It’s probably going to sound annoying, but I feel like we really-” Yixing gets one of pieces of meat from the pan and pops it in Kyungsoo’s mouth,

“How does it taste? Bland?” Yixing doesn’t look at him as he waits for a response.

Before Kyungsoo gets a chance to speak, they’re both startled by the sound of the front door opening, Yixing stares at Tao in the middle of taking off his shoes and turning completely unable to move as he takes in the scene happening in their kitchen. Kyungsoo isn’t much better, still holding him against himself as unmoving as a marble statue.

The inevitable happens once all three of Yixing’s roommates are inside and look at them, Yixing lives the events in slow motion: their mouth opening, their eyes widening and their fingers pointing.

Kyungsoo draws back like he’s been burned, “Good morning.” It’s almost pitiful how fake his friendly tone sounds. Yixing sighs and pours the soup into two bowls,

“There’s no breakfast for you, sorry.” He puts a bowl in front of Kyungsoo, who’s still grappling with shock.

“Why would we need breakfast? It's three p.m.” Sehun pushes past Tao and Nini who are still frozen near the entrance, seemingly shell-shocked.

“Three?” Kyungsoo stands up and scares the entire room, “I was supposed to meet Junmyeon.” He runs to the couch where he left his jacket the night before, 

“Oh…” Yixing stands up too, if he knew he would have woken him up in time. It’s a bit regretful seeing him go so soon, “Do you want to take the food with you?” He asks without even thinking how he could achieve that.

Kyungsoo slows his search for the missing pieces of his outfit to look at him, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll just get something on the way.”

Yixing’s arms fall to his sides, all he can do is watch silently as he gets ready to leave.

“I have to go,” Kyungsoo walks up to him when he’s finally all ready, Yixing sees his eyes move over his face, “I’m sorry I can’t stay to eat.”

Yixing pouts dramatically, but he nods his head showing he understands. Kyungsoo nods too, it felt as if he had said everything he wanted to, but he raises his head once more to look at Yixing a second later,

“Also, thank you… For yesterday.” He smiles, but Yixing sees a twinge of uncomfortableness concealed behind it. He doesn’t need to guess the reason, he knows it’s his fault.

He doesn’t want to see him go away in this state, so he grabs his arm and holds him there long enough to kiss him, “I’ll call you.”

Kyungsoo is clearly surprised, but he doesn’t comment, he nods again and quickly leaves. He’s probably thinking too hard and it was only fair for Yixing to reassure him. He wants him to know that he’s not saying no, but that he only needs a bit of time to sort himself out.

“What did I just witness?” Tao asks Nini, who shakes her head in response. Yixing feels their unspoken questions loom around him, but he ignores them in favour of eating his breakfast.

  
  


◊

Kyungsoo nearly cuts one of his fingers for the fourth time, when he decides he needs to stop drowning in thoughts of Yixing and start minding the work he is doing.

He knows he can do it, but it's hard. It's _so_ _hard_ , even an entire week later, forgetting about Yixing's body writhing under him, about his otherworldly tightness, his hips, his legs and then his late night calls, his sleepy voice over the phone...

"Fuck!" He finally managed to cut himself, he throws the box cutter to the floor and runs to the bathroom to wash the cut.

"Everything okay?" Junmyeon asks from inside the office, when Kyungsoo appears in front of him,

"Yeah…" Kyungsoo turns to the right and pushes past the bathroom door to reach the sink, the amount of blood landing on the white porcelain is not exactly reassuring.

"Oh my god!" Junmyeon gasps from behind him, "I told you we should have paid a professional to get it off."

"Ah, stop that, it's only a small cut, I was distracted."

They've entered the second half of the month of October and  _ Mirage _ has already taken several steps towards its new life.

Kyungsoo is glad Junmyeon has become more open to changes, he’s sure it will reward them soon.

The first step was to cease the contracts with the suppliers, who have been milking this business for years in the name of the old times, asking for prices that had a reason to exist only before the recessions, and sign new deals with better option, both quality and price wise.

After that, Kyungsoo proposed some ideas to modernize the look of the place. Junmyeon had his doubts, but instead of forbidding changes he was willing to discuss with Kyungsoo and find a happy medium. 

In order to save even more money, Kyungsoo took the executive decision to handle any odd jobs he could. Which happens to be the reason why he spent the entire morning cutting the beat up, black leather off the seats in the main room, to prep them for the professional who will install the new seats they’ve chosen.

Kyungsoo reminds himself of their goals as he continues to look at the fairly deep cut on his left index finger still shedding blood.

"Half an hour until everyone arrives," Junmyeon looks at his watch, "I'll go buy some drinks and come back."

"Okay." Kyungsoo answers curtly as he looks for a band aid in their first aid box.

After their rocky start, working with Junmyeon has been a pleasure. He hopes he'll be able to say the same for the dancers as well.

The first one to arrive is Minseok, Kyungsoo feels a bit better about this whole thing when he greets him with a smile. After him the others trail in too one after the other, Yixing comes accompanied by his three roommates and instead of lingering around the tables like the others he comes up to him.

“Hey,” he smiles and dips quickly to kiss his lips, “Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.” he lies, his eyes dart to the small crowd, he’s startled when he realizes they’re all staring at him. He’s been spending so much time with Yixing, that he forgot no one knows what is happening between them. To be completely honest Kyungsoo feels like he doesn’t know what’s going on either.

“I’m glad Junmyeon convinced you to talk to everyone yourself.” Yixing dusts off Kyungsoo’s green checkered shirt and undoes the first button. 

“Yeah…” Kyungsoo sighs and straightens the papers in his hands.

“Everyone’s here already!” Junmyeon nearly shouts out of excitement, the others greet him too but don’t match his energy. He distributes drinks and then walks up to Kyungsoo just as Yixing takes a seat with the rest of the dancers.

“As some of you already know, this place has been in a tight spot for quite a while,” Kyungsoo starts, he feels like he’s presenting to class and no one can stand him, “So, Junmyeon and I have spent these past weeks coming up with ideas that would help  _ Mirage  _ stay open.” He gives out the list they have prepared, it’s divided between changes that they have already decided to implement and propositions, “We would like to hear your input. If anyone has any suggestions we would be glad to hear it.”

“I have a question.” Xiaobao raises his arm, “It says you have decided to open only during the weekend, does that mean our pay will be cut?”

“For the time being, it makes more sense to close during the week, but we’ll be saving so much more money that we won’t need to take anything from your pays.” Kyungsoo knows it sounds absurd said in this way, but he’ll do everything he can to make it work. He looks at Junmyeon taking a step forward to clear up more doubts, thinking that he finally understands him, he gets how he can be so attached to an old stripclub in Yangpu.

Coming to Mirage has changed his life under every aspect and he doesn’t want anything more than to see it succeed. When he arrived here all he wanted was to make his dad proud, now his prority has become making sure that the club and all the people who work here will have a long, stable carreer. 

Nini raises her hand and waits for Junmyeon to invite her to speak, “What if instead of just dancing as usual, we prepare something more elaborate?” 

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrow, listening with interest.

“Like with coordinated costumes and choreography… A bit more burlesque-” She continues.

“Since the club closed she’s spent the entire time rewatching Burlesque with Christina Aguilera over and over.” Sehun chimes in and feigns fear when Nini threatens to hit him. 

“Something like that could attract more attention,” Kyungsoo brings the conversation back to a more serious tone, “And changing the theme frequently will make it feel exclusive. People will never want to miss a performance.”

“That’s a great idea, we could even sell tickets at the entrance in the future.” Junmyeon muses as he scratches his chin, “Starting out on Halloween will be perfect.”

“Oh! And-” Nini speaks up again, but is interrupted.

“Wait, are we seriously doing this?” Xiaobao raises from his chair and runs to the front with his phone in his hand, “I have ideas! And Junmyeon  _ has _ to start dancing again for them!” Kyungsoo can see a document open on the screen he is showing them. As a perfect coincidence his eye falls on one particular line.

_...YIXING [wearing bunny costume]... _

"Yes, we are 100% doing this."


	4. Chapter 4

Kyungsoo has been tossing and turning all night. 

Yixing is sleeping peacefully by his side, his limbs are spread comically over the bed and over Kyungsoo himself and his mouth is half open, his calm breathing shifts into soft snoring from time to time. 

Kyungsoo holds his hand out, lets his fingers caress his ear and the longer strands of his dark hair.

He’s shared this same bed with him almost everyday since they’ve become closer, they’ve shared more intimate moments than Kyungsoo thought possible. Yet, what they have still doesn’t have a name.

Yixing’s eyebrows furrow and Kyungsoo stops touching him. 

If only he had the courage to ask.

The lit up screen of his phone informs him that it’s four thirty-five a.m. He sighs, now that there’s only a few days left before the opening, Kyungsoo has been feeling nothing but unrest. He is kept awake by the fears of the possibility of none of the changes working, of disappointing all the people for whom _Mirage_ feels like home.

It’s strange, but in a certain sense, that old, shady place has become a little bit like a second home for himself as well.

He tries not to make too much noise as he walks out of the room, the door creaks when he pushes it open, but Yixing sleeps through it soundly.

Kyungsoo steps out and the first thing he sees is Nini staring right at him from a chair around the small dining table. Her eyes catch the lights coming from the outside like a cat’s. She looks almost catathonic, the only signs that dismantle her perfect porcelain doll-like posture is the sound of her munching and the slow movement of her hand from a plastic package to her mouth.

Kyungsoo turns on the light. It’s a package of dried seaweed.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She says, her voice sounds strange, raw.

“Are you okay?” Kyungsoo takes a step, he originally wanted to get a glass of water, so he starts to move towards the sink.

“Yes.” the least convincing affirmative response Kyungsoo has ever heard in his life, but he doesn’t comment, he fills a glass of water and sits at the table as well.

From a closer distance, Kyungsoo can see clearly the wetness over her cheeks, the sort of trails that can only be left behind by tears. He quickly looks away, when Nini catches him staring.

“If you need to talk about it-”

“No, thanks.” 

More uncomfortable silence follows, Kyungsoo nods and downs the water, trying to get himself out of the picture as soon as possible.

“Are you Yixing’s boyfriend now?” Nini asks, “ You know, you’re not his type, right?”

“I know and I’m not his boyfriend.” Kyungsoo scratches the back of his head, he doesn’t want to think about it.

“So you’re sex friends?” She continues,

“I don’t know, we haven’t talked about it.”

“But you have feelings for him, don’t you?” She puts another handful of the crunchy snack in her mouth, “Isn’t it worse to leave things as they are?”

“I…” _don’t want to talk about it_ is what he is about to say, but he changes his mind, maybe speaking with someone will help him put things into perspective, “...Don’t have any experience with that sort of thing and I’m scared of asking him.”

She spends some time chewing, Kyungsoo almost thinks she’s lost interest. 

“I don’t think you need to be scared of what he’ll say.” Her forehead creases as she seems to delve deep into her thoughts, “I’ve known him for years and I’ve never seen him spend this much time with someone like you without getting paid.” Her expression turns into disgust, “It’s kinda cringy to say this to your face, but I think he really likes you.” Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, this isn’t what he expected, "I think you should give him some time to come to terms with it… Maybe even play a bit hard to get."

"Me? Won't he just think I'm annoying?" Kyungsoo's fingers fidget with his empty glass; he’s jittery, Nini’s words continue to echo in his head, injecting straight dopamine in his system.

"No… Well, I don't know. But still, I think having to spend less time fucking you will help him realise things sooner." She explains, she seems really sure of herself and Kyungsoo doesn't have any reason not to believe her, she's known Yixing for a lot longer than he has, after all.

“How did you meet him?” he asks then, 

“I was nineteen, broke and needed a bed to sleep in,” She grits her teeth and shakes her head at her own words, “I remembered a senior from my dance history class mentioning the club, so I went there to look for work. Yixing was the first person I talked to, he was smoking near the entrance. He looked so cool…" She pauses and reminisces, "I thought he was going to be rude, instead he ended up basically adopting me… And when I arrived Sehun and Zitao were already living here."

"Did you want to work as a dancer initially?" Kyungsoo is curious.

"Well, yeah… That's what I would like to do after the academy too. But when I tried it at the club it didn't really work out." She shrugs,

"Would you like to try again?"

She looks at him confusedly, "Why now?"

"Well, Xiaobao is taking care of the choreographies, but these new performances were your idea. It feels strange to keep you out of it."

"But I'm a girl… People didn't really care to acknowledge it when I tried it the first time."

Kyungsoo sits back, he puckers his lips as he thinks about how to explain himself, "That's not the kind of public we want to attract. I can't promise you that it won't ever happen again, but if it ever does, we won’t have any reason to choose a client over you. People can be mean, even among us," He looks at Nini and he is pleased to see her look back at him with interest, "But they have no power to dictate what your place is or what you should and shouldn't do. I think the people who will look up to you will be more than the ones trying to hold you back."

Nini clears her throat, "I saw in your list," Nini talks about the list Kyungsoo handed out during their first actual staff meeting, "That you want to include more than just cis men," Kyungsoo doesn't know if he should tell her that Junmyeon wanted that change specifically to create the perfect environment to have her be comfortable on stage too, "But I don't think I necessarily want to be a role model for anyone… I just enjoy dancing."

"Sorry, I wasn’t trying to put pressure on you.“ Kyungsoo fidgets with his fingers, he didn’t mean to sound like that, “For now just think about it and let me know. I’m sure everyone will be happy to see you perform as well." Kyungsoo smiles, "We don’t work in a gay stripclub anymore. The plan is to be able to let anyone from the community work for us and enjoy our shows, so whatever you’ll decide just know that you’ll always be welcome."

"...Now you make me feel bad for being mean to you." Nini sighs and pushes her hand back into the bright green plastic,

"You were mean to me?" Kyungsoo asks, not remembering any real hostility apart from her glaring.

"Well, behind your back." 

Kyungsoo laughs, he appreciates the honesty, "You don't need to feel bad, I get it…" He stops to peer at her, "Was it because of Minseok?"

She stops munching and stares at him wordlessly, then she sighs again and starts airing her heart out to him.

  
  


◊

  
  


The past few weeks have been the fastest in Yixing's life.

There has been so much to prepare in such a short period of time. From rehearsing the dance moves to creating posters to advertise the new opening.

In this race against time, Yixing has been assigned to do the heavy lifting: moving boxes of bottles around and hanging up the cardboard recreation of a forest that will serve as their scenery. There's the atmosphere of a middle school recital, but the result isn't as amateurish as Yixing was expecting.

Yixing was quite surprised by Kyungsoo's talent with threads and fabrics, whenever he sees him these days he always has a needle in his hands and a pair of scissors in his baggy cargo pants; even when he gets him to ditch his hotel room to bring him back to his humble abode. Even when he tries to invite him to his bed at the end of a long day, all he does is make out with him and send him to sleep with a boner while he keeps sewing.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Lei asks from above him, Yixing flinches when the older man’s opened shirt brushes against his naked torso, 

"Ah, yeah, everything's fine."

"What's on your mind? We don't have to continue if you don't want to…" Lei moves away, he sits up on the bed and without saying anything else he pushes a cigarette between Yixing's lips and lights it for him.

"I'm just nervous for the opening," Yixing pushes out with a puff of smoke, "There's so much to think about, it's not about getting on stage and shaking my ass for ten minutes anymore."

"That's normal." Lei strokes his hair as he reassures him, "I'm excited to see what you're preparing too."

Yixing looks up at him and wonders whether he would have any interest in hearing him talk about Kyungsoo.

"Have you met the new manager?" he decides to try,

"I've seen him around, he looks awfully young, doesn't he?" he laughs lightly, but it holds no malice.

"He does, that's why I feel kind of weird being with him..."

"With him? He's a client?" Huang Lei's gossiping side comes out, Yixing chuckles and covers himself with the hotel's bed sheet,

"No, he's… I think he's my boyfriend? Maybe?"

"A boyfriend?!" Lei's mouth opens in shock, in just a second it turns into a wide smile, "That's great news!"

Yixing basks in his genuine joy for him, the feelings he used to harbor for him must have been a huge weight on Lei as well.

"I think so." He smiles too, his chest swells just by thinking about it, "He's just really inexperienced, so I don't count on it lasting very long… But I’m enjoying myself a lot."

"Why not?" he tilts his head and his tone is kept light hearted, 

"I'm sure he'll find someone else." Yixing looks at his hands, at his fingers playing mindlessly with each other.

"He'll find someone younger," Lei voices out Yixing's thoughts, "Someone who he won't be ashamed of."

"Yes…" Yixing responds seriously, not expecting Lei to grab his cheek and force him to look at him.

"Don't make my same mistakes." Yixing draws back and takes Huang Lei's hand in his, he wants to laugh it off, but he can't when he's looking at him so seriously, "I still regret it, I always will."

Yixing turns his head and for once Lei searches his eyes, painfully direct in a way he always seemed scared to be, "I mean it, but I am also glad. I would have never been able to spoil and parade you around like you deserve. For everyone's convenience I'll never be able to come out and I wouldn't want to live knowing that I chained you with me."

Yixing's vision sways, Lei's face takes strange shapes in the water glazing his eyes. He wants to tell him he understands, that he understood a long time ago and that, despite how much it used to hurt, he has accepted it and grown from it, but when he tries to speak something breaks and his voice strains in a sob. 

Now that he has met Kyungsoo he is even happy, in a selfish way he's ashamed to admit, to have Lei still by his side, his presence has become a staple in his life that he's not equipped to lose and he is glad to have him close while he embarks on a new journey. He's a friend who helped him when he needed it the most, an older brother who kept him company when he had no one and he will continue to be until he wants to. 

Yixing hasn't stopped loving him, but his feelings have changed, he's ready to move on with him, with all the friends he's gotten throughout the years and with Kyungsoo too, for as long as he'll have him.

The morning of the 31st Yixing's phone blows up with the amount of calls and messages he receives.

New and old clients ask him information about the opening, some of them ask if the prices for his side job are still the same. He reads everything without focusing too much, letting his brain travel to the rhythm of the entrance aria from The barber of Seville that he is listening to.

Without even mentioning how hard he finds thinking about fucking anyone else when he has Kyungsoo splayed on his back sucking on his nape as if he could start eating him at any moment.

"Aren't you going to respond?" from his position, Yixing is sure he must have gotten a good look at everything on his phone, but he doesn't seem to mind.

"I don't feel like it…" Yixing arches his back, tries to wiggle his ass against Kyungsoo's half erection, "Even though I haven't been touched in _so_ long." he sighs dramatically, waiting for Kyungsoo to catch the bait.

"I saw you leaving with that old man the other day, though." Kyungsoo moves off him, but he still keeps his left arm secured around his waist.

"Yeah, we ended up just talking." Yixing turns on his side, his fingers trace lightly the barely defined muscles on Kyungsoo's sturdy body from above his shirt. He always sleeps in full pajama sets, Yixing finds it adorable, maybe he'll buy one for himself too, he's already thirty he can't continue sleeping in thongs and nothing else. 

"Talking?" Kyungsoo asks, he looks a bit incredulous, Yixing doesn't know if he should be offended by it.

"I've known him for a long time, I've even lived with him, while I was quitting drugs." 

"Oh," Kyungsoo deflates, his touch on Yixing becomes less present, "Are you two… Together?"

"Would you be disappointed if I said yes?" Yixing pushes and his heart breaks a little when Kyungsoo's expression falls, he doesn't respond, so Yixing continues, "I used to have that kind of feelings for him, but he never reciprocated."

"What?! How?" Kyungsoo's deep voice always makes him sound so serious, even when asking questions as strange as these.

"What do you mean?" Yixing's light voice jumps as he giggles,

"Just… I don't understand how anyone wouldn't want to be with you." he doesn't falter even for a second as he speaks, Yixing hides against his chest to avoid the overwhelming happiness he feels while looking at his eyes.

"Rich coming from someone who doesn't even know me that well. Maybe you'll start thinking I'm an insufferable asshole in a couple of weeks." Yixing winds himself around him. God, he hopes that won't become true.

"I think I've gossipped with your friends enough to have a good grasp on your character." Kyungsoo declares proudly, then his eyes squint, "Wait, that doesn't sound good. A lot of it came from them without having to ask… And if you ever feel like sharing anything I’ll be all ears."

Yixing laughs, he re-emerges from his hideout to squeeze Kyungsoo’s cheeks, "Nosy. Then what about what you want to ask? Is there nothing you want to know?"

"Well, I'm too shy for that." He grimaces,

"You're not too shy to turn me down when I try to get it on, though." Yixing lets his head lay on the pillow, his wavy hair falls over his face in a way that, he knows, makes him look sultry. 

"That's different," Kyungsoo falls for his tricks, he leans over him and kisses him, their lips are wet and the sound of their meeting echoes in the silent room, "I wanted you to have some space to think about things before continuing, because… I'm sure you can tell how I feel about you."

Yixing's breath catches in his throat, it's really happening, "Do you think I've had enough time to think now?"

"I don't know, but I'm reassured by the fact that you didn't dump me completely when I stopped putting out."

Yixing pulls Kyungsoo down and circles his arms around his neck, "Who would hold onto you for your cock? You barely know how to use it…"

"And yet you've been craving it this entire time." Yixing smiles as they kiss again, he breathes out in relief when Kyungsoo's hands finally grab his ass.

"Wake up dads, Junmyeon's having a panic attack." Sehun's monotone voice breaks into the room accompanied by the familiar creaking of Yixing's door.

"Don't ever call me that again!" Yixing springs off the mattress and points at Sehun, he throws a pillow at Kyungsoo when he turns to look at him for support and he finds him staring back at him looking too happy.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo spends the entire day between feeling complete bliss and crippling nervousness.

One moment remembering the conversation from the morning, the next being swallowed by his responsibilities. The club, the dancers and his family.

He's been putting off calling his dad for the entire month, but now he's reached the finishing line and he can't postpone any longer.

He walks out of the club, already feeling his hands become damp. He searches for his dad’s number like he doesn't have its position in his contact list memorised.

He waits patiently as the line beeps, then he takes a deep breath as he hears him pick up.

"New phone, who is this?" he immediately starts laughing loudly, Kyungsoo has to move the phone away from his ear, "Kyungsoo! What have you been up to?!"

"Hi, dad. Well, I've been working…"

"Working?! Where?" There's a loud thud, like he's slammed his hand on his desk,

"Shanghai." 

"Finally a son with a bit of common sense, I knew you wouldn't get yourself mixed up with some decrepit hostess club in Daegu like your brother. So, was this your first day? Where are you working at?" Kyungsoo grits his teeth, well maybe he isn't that different from his brother.

"No actually, I've already been here for a while. We're reopening today and I wanted to invite you."

"A reopening?" The weight in his father's voice worries Kyungsoo, but he has a plan and he can't back down now.

"Yes, tonight at ten. Baekhyun will take you here."

"Oh, you're preparing a nice surprise for your old man aren't you! Okay, okay, I'll see you tonight!" Some of his usual excitement is back in his tone, it's enough to make Kyungsoo feel better about the entire situation.

He pushes the backdoor open and walks inside, Yixing is waiting for him near the door to the dressing room, "How did it go?"

"He's coming." Kyungsoo breathes out and he's grateful when Yixing takes his head between his hands and pecks his lips, 

"Go wear your suit then, I'm dying to see you all dolled up."

"Not as much as I want to see you tonight." Kyungsoo's fingers move the collar of Yixing's lilac robe trying to take a peek at the costume he's been sewing with so much care finally being worn.

"Ah ah, you'll have to wait!" He clutches the robe tightly and runs away. Kyungsoo looks at his back until he disappears among the vanity tables, his heart races, but not because of nervousness, but because of the breathtaking, loving feelings he has for him.

He gathers the cleaning supplies he had been using in the main room as he passed through it, already dreaming of the day they will be able to afford a professional cleaning crew. 

The first thing he sees, when he steps into the office, is a pair of white boots thrown across the floor and a pair of equally white bunny ears shaking in time with the sobbing man they're attached to.

Kyungsoo circles the desk and hands Junmyeon a handkerchief, "Let it all out." he pats his back, having grown a bit more accustomed to Junmyeon’s breakdowns.

It’s been especially bad for Junmyeon today, he has been on a rollercoaster ride through his emotions since the morning; moving effortlessly from being the happiest person alive to begging Kyungsoo not to open to save themselves from failing.

"I'm just so grateful for you!" he sobs more into his hands and then blows his nose loudly, reaching the frequency of a perfectly tuned saxophone.

Too soon the clock strikes eight, then nine and finally Kyungsoo looks at the watch his dad gifted to him, adjusts his pressed, dark suit and gets ready to go open the doors. He gets to the panel of controls on the wall near the office and flicks up the switch for the lights at the storefront and the ones inside.

He steps out and finally looks at _Mirage_ ’s new face. Instead of the old, worn out upholstery, there’s fresh, burgundy fake leather; the price ended up being more than Junmyeon and himself had expected, but the way it looks makes it all worth it. It matches especially well with the dim yellow lights of the lamps sitting atop each of the twelve tables. 

The lamps are small and all different, but close in height and style enough to look like a set, some of them were kept among the heaps of trinkets in Yixing’s house, Xiaobao contributed with one as well, the rest were bought using what was left of Junmyeon and his joined funds. The ugly eighties style tile floor, like every other surface, is so clean that Kyungsoo can see his reflection on it. 

Although the most eye-catching changes must be the ones on stage, the black wooden boards of its floor disappear among the triumph of fake grass and the vivid colours of plastic flowers. The cold steel of the two poles at the back is decorated by long strings of artificial ivy and the unique shade of pastel purple of lavender flowers.

Kyungsoo’s nose scrunches as his senses are attacked by a deep flowery perfume, he had told Xiaobao not to go around spraying scents in the main room, but he clearly didn’t listen. He swallows his complaints and continues to move on. 

The three two meters tall security guards Minseok recruited at his day job at a gym nod at him. Kyungsoo takes the keys out of his pocket, his hands tremble as he picks the right one.

The door opens and the first thing Kyungsoo sees is people.

His breath catches, he can’t believe what his eyes are showing him. There's a line waiting to come in, Zhiting is at the front and with no second thoughts he dips forward and kisses Kyungsoo's cheeks.

"Congratulations for the new opening!" He smiles and his huge hands pose on his shoulders to shake him lightly. 

"Thank you!" Kyungsoo manages to get out as he steps to the side and invites everyone to trail in. The people entering seem to never end, making Kyungsoo look worriedly at the couches and chairs filling up steadily.

Xiaobao and Nini are peeking from the dressing room, their faces equally as shocked as Kyungsoo's. He hopes they'll get over it just long enough to notice his wild gesturing, trying to tell them to bring out the chairs from the office and the dressing room.

He mouths the word 'CHAIRS' at them so many times that he fears he will be stuck doing it for the entire night. Somehow, they understand him and in no time most of the dancers walk out with a chair in each of their hands, it's not enough for everyone, but it's all they have to offer.

At a quarter past ten the influx of people has died down and the main room is almost filled to the brim. It’s the perfect time for Kyungsoo to leave his spot at the entrance and walk into the dressing room.

He clasps his hands as he sees everyone standing, already dressed and made up, "I'm sorry about your chairs." he has so much to say to them, but this is the only complete sentence he manages to voice.

In response there's a loud cheer and Kyungsoo backs away as everyone runs towards him. His ribs are crushed by strong hugs and his ears by their loud voices.

"Okay, okay!" Kyungsoo laughs and joins the cheering, "Now I'll go serve drinks! And you get on the stage, break a leg!"

Kyungsoo looks on as Xiaobao starts the music and immediately runs on stage. He breathes out contentedly as the crowd welcomes him with a cheer, he is about to walk out, when someone tugs his sleeve, he's not surprised to see Yixing's hand come up to his face to turn it back to look at him.

They kiss even if they can't keep the smile off their lips. "I'm so excited!" Yixing says and Kyungsoo nods, he holds his face and kisses him again.

"I love you, go get 'em!" Kyungsoo pinches his ass and goes to fill the vacant spot at the bar.

  
  


◊

  
  


Yixing thinks he's going to die with how fast his heart is beating. Not so much because he’s about to step up on the stage in a way he’s never done before, but because Kyungsoo's words keep echoing in his head.

"Yixing…" He is pulled out of his rose tinted reverie by Zitao, when he turns to look at him, he's biting his lips and is standing between Sehun and Nini. The sight is strange to say the least, two wolves and Red Riding Hood all looking at him concerned, he would be laughing if they didn't look so upset.

"What is it?" Yixing pinches his cheek to try to get him to stop tormenting his lips, "Nervous?"

He nods and everyone is a bit surprised when Sehun is the first one to hug him, Nini follows his lead quickly and Yixing does too, doing his best to hold tightly all three of his unnecessarily tall children.

"I'm really proud of all three of you." He does his best not to cry, he has mascara on and it wouldn't be a good look.

Xiaobao comes back from his opening and carefully extracts Nini from Yixing's arms,

"Come on, we'll all cry together later!" Xiaobao tries to sound as snarky as he always does, but he is clearly affected by nervousness as much as they are.

Yixing opens his arms to him too and he quickly walks into them, Xiaobao squeezes him tightly and then claps his hands, "Let's go! Let's go!"

The first one to come on stage is Nini, skipping and jumping in her bright red ensemble. The first action on her script is to stumble over a strategically placed branch and let her knee length skirt catch onto it and let it tear it off of her as she pirouettes, until she's left in equally thunderous red, Victorian looking underwear.

She covers her mouth in shock and gathers the fabric to cover herself up and swiftly runs off the stage, not without letting her basket smash on the ground first and reveal the impressive collection of sex toys Xiaobao put together for her.

Yixing laughs with the crowd at her perfect expressions and comical timing.

The cheery music that accompanied her turns darker, making the hair on Yixing's nape stand on end. Mentally he pats himself on the back for his music choices and physically he grabs Junmyeon's hand and drags his knee high, high heeled boots on the stage.

Junmyeon walks to the right pole and Yixing takes his designated position near the one on the left, they climb them as the lights slowly shift into purple, the music’s dark atmosphere is stained by quiet trills and a steady beat.

Yixing and Junmyeon raise on the poles, Yixing can feel the smooth material chafe against his thighs through the thin material of his suit pants, the white fishnets he is wearing underneath are tugged as he moves, he fears they might break when he lets himself go and spins quickly around the pole, beginning the complex routine that they have put together.

By the time both Junmyeon and himself have reached the floor. Sehun and Zitao have already come up the stage, hiding behind an arbust of fake leaves that doesn’t actually cover them at all. Despite that, the two white rabbits act as if they can’t see anything, laughing and running around their small corner of forest without a single thought. 

Eventually they meet in the center of the stage and Yixing takes Junmyeon’s hand in his, he mimics kissing him from his fingers up to his shoulder and then by quite a sneaky theatrical mistake he tugs the sleeve of his shirt until the entire garment is torn off his chiselled body. Yixing widens his eyes and covers his face in artfully crafted shame, then shock when Junmyeon squeezes the bushy white tail on his ass and by a coincidence, that even Xiaobao described as completely forced, ends up pulling his pants apart and completely off him, leaving him in a shirt tucked into a bunny bodysuit, fishnets and boots. Probably the most Yixing has ever worn on this stage.

The public laughs at the scene, but also at Sehun and Zitao who were told to look taken aback by the display of campy clumsiness. As the two bunnies get themselves off the stage, they were supposed to be arguing seriously, but Junmyeon can’t stop laughing and Yixing is pretty much in his same condition, so they just tug at each other’s ears until they disappear behind the scenes, where they can quietly rejoice and scream out of excitement.

Yixing is done for the night so he sneaks to the main room to help Kyungsoo as the others continue performing their version of Little Red Riding Hood, Xiaobao was an outstanding waacking grandma and Minseok was born to be a half naked and oiled up hunter. Nini makes good use of her ballet knowledge, Yixing would have never thought he’d see the day Red Riding Hood would deliver spinning kicks on pointe shoes directly on the jaws of the two wolves trying to eat her alive and then effortlessly being picked up by the hunter to deliver the finishing blows.

The performance ends with a duet between Riding Hood and the hunter as the grandma watches in clear discomfort. Yixing’s jaw hits the floor when Minseok spins Nini around and, as he makes her land in a perfect tango dip, Nini cranes her neck to kiss him as the music comes to a climactic end.

Yixing is frozen, but Kyungsoo starts pushing him towards the dressing room again, “Go get the applause!” he shouts, Yixing looks at him for a moment before he hears Xiaobao’s voice announcing the names of the cast among the cheers of their audience. Yixing starts to walk, but he grasps Kyungsoo’s wrist wanting to take him with him.

Kyungsoo does his best to resist, he roots his polished shoes in the ground, shakes his head vehemently, but Yixing has no intention to lose the fight. He drags him at the front of the tables, right under the stage, he bows as his name is called and then steps aside as Xiaobao calls an applause for Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, thanking them for what they’ve done tonight and for all the work they’ve put on during this past month.

Yixing’s heart squeezes at the sight of Kyungsoo’s wide, pretty eyes becoming shiny. He jumps at his neck as soon as the spotlights are turned off and he shrieks as he feels himself being picked up and thrown over Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

They run to the vip rooms; well, Kyungsoo runs for both of them.

Once they’re in the privacy of one of the rooms, Kyungsoo loosens his tie and lets Yixing back on the floor, “It went well?” he asks.

“It went so well!” Yixing smiles, his heart is nearly beating out of his chest, “You did so good!” He holds his face and pecks his lips,

“No, you did amazing, everyone did.” Kyungsoo puts a hand on his chest, his voice sounds poised, but anyone would be able to tell his heart is racing just as fast as Yixing’s.

Yixing takes his hand and holds it tightly, he could cry again, but he tries his best to keep his emotions at bay. 

“Everything was perfect, even if I had a really hard time focusing before getting on stage,” he smiles and sits down on the couch where clients usually sit, “With you saying you’re in love with me and everything.”

Kyungsoo’s small contented smile falls, he pales as he turns to look at him, Yixing expects him to panic while holding a completely straight face as he usually does, instead he sits beside him and takes both of his hands in his.

“I know that’s kind of strong, but that’s how I feel.” He’s calm, his eyes stay steady and gaze directly into Yixing’s. He almost feels like he is the only one panicking.

He tries to free one of his hands to scratch his head, or cover his face just do anything to cut the tension, but Kyungsoo doesn’t let him, “I’m not asking for you to reciprocate, I know we’ve known each other for less than a month, but I would be happy if you would at least take it into consideration.”

Yixing has never been confessed to so directly, he’s had clients swear to love him and then forget him for someone new only days after, but he’s never been looked in the eyes and have words as romantic as these being dedicated to him.

As the eldest, he thinks he should at least mention the possibility of Kyungsoo attaching himself to him because he was the first man he was intimate with, but he decides to keep it to himself. Selfish, but so happy, at least for a little while.

Yixing scoots closer to him and with a slick, professional move he gets himself on his lap. Kyungsoo seems to be accustomed to being straightforward when it matters, but Yixing isn’t the same, so he hides against his neck, when he whispers quietly that he thinks he loves him too.

He feels crazy and irresponsible, but Kyungsoo’s relieved sigh makes him feel better about his choices.

“I think we should celebrate.” Kyungsoo says suddenly,

“Now that we’re boyfriends the sex ban is lifted?” Yixing springs up, Kyungsoo’s hands pose gently over his waist,

“Only if you feel like it.”

“Oh my god, what does that even mean?! I’ve never wanted anything more!” Yixing sighs and with sure motions he lays himself over the couch to reach the bottle of lube and condoms that Minseok keeps in the room, Kyungsoo’s hands move up his thighs and grab his ass, making his knees go weak as he tries to stand up.

“I’m clean, but I’m probably too tight,”

“Let me do it.” Kyungsoo pulls him to sit on his lap again and smooths his hands down Yixing’s back, “This is how we were sitting when we first met.” he smiles, Yixing pushes his cheeks together hoping that it will make him stop saying embarrassing things.

“Do you know how to do it?” he asks, changing the topic.

“I guess?” Kyungsoo’s questioning tone isn’t reassuring, but his hands are confident when he adjusts Yixing’s position to reach the clasp keeping the bodysuit closed between his legs, Yixing would love for him to just get to it, but Kyungsoo takes his time to push his white fishnets down his legs. His warm palms linger on his thighs.

The cap of the lube bottle being opened is the only sound in the room until Kyungsoo’s finger pushes inside him with a wet sound.

“You’re so tight…” Kyungsoo points out the obvious, but the darkness in his voice has Yixing trembling and biting back a moan.

It feels like a bit of an accident when Kyungsoo first hits his prostate, because he looks as surprised as he is when Yixing’s voice is caught up in a high pitched cry. He gets over his shock pretty quickly, though, and pushes another finger inside Yixing’s hole wasting as little time as possible to go back to thrusting into his sweet spot. 

“Just fuck me please,” Yixing shuts his eyes tightly and bumps his forehead against Kyungsoo’s, “Please, I’m already close.”, but Kyungsoo doesn’t stop, he adds more cold lube directly on Yixing’s scorching skin and adds a third finger. 

Yixing hits his shoulders and adjusts his position to get himself away from him, his senses are in overdrive, hyper aware of Kyungsoo’s hands on him, of his smell, of the scent of Yixing’s favourite fruity shampoo in his hair. “Please I don’t want to come like this, please, Kyungsoo.” He babbles, but he can see and feel that Kyungsoo is just as affected as he is.

In no time, Kyungsoo’s cock is standing out of his dress pants and Yixing’s knees are trembling as he sits himself on it.

“Jump, jump!” Kyungsoo relaxes against the couch and takes Yixing’s hands to intertwine their fingers together, “You’re a bunny, up! Up!” 

Yixing smiles, loving the talk, loving the way Kyungsoo looks in his expensive suit, telling him to bounce on his dick.

He’s always thought younger men had nothing to offer, but Kyungsoo has in him a deadly mix of a youngster’s stamina and the confidence of a well navigated man. A virgin, rich young master has no business embodying each and every single one of Yixing’s fantasies.

He does jump and he does bounce until his bunny ears fall off his head and his thighs burn, Kyungsoo is looking at him, but his eyes are unfocused, his hands almost painful as he takes handfuls of his flesh, leaving handprints on his thighs, his ass, his waist, just about anywhere Yixing wanted them.

It’s just unfortunate that coming proves to be a bit awkward, in the heat of the moment they both forgot about condoms and Yixing can’t afford to dirty the costume, since he’ll be wearing it again tomorrow. So Kyungsoo scrunches his face and pulls out, to jerk himself off in his handkerchief and then does the same to Yixing’s boneless body laying on the couch.

“I hated that, I’ll take the ears home for round two.” Yixing wheezes out moments after cumming,

“I wish you could bring the tail too…” Kyungsoo sits on the couch too and welcomes Yixing’s legs when he extends them over his lap.

“Well,” Yixing bends his legs and uses his feet to mess with Kyungsoo’s oversensitive cock already secured in his pants, “At home I might have an even better bunny tail.” Kyungsoo’s lips open in a silent O shape and then he flinches when the touching on his crotch becomes too much.

“I should go look for my dad…” He covers his eyes, “I wish I could take a shower before that.” 

“Come at my house for real, I’ll prepare you a bath,” Yixing sits up, he plays with Kyungsoo’s right ear, he smiles as he nods, “I’ll be waiting, okay?” He stands up, already feeling fine, but also excited about the night that awaits him.

He doesn’t expect Kyungsoo to knock at his door entire hours later with bloodshot eyes and a heavy heart.

  
  


◊

  
  


Kyungsoo does his best to make himself look presentable as he walks down the stairs. He is surprised to see how many people are still inside, dancing to the music playing through the speakers and buying drinks, paying for lap dances in the middle of the room.

Kyungsoo gives a thumb up to Nini who’s working at the bar with Minseok completely attached to her, he smiles when she shows him a thumb up as well.

Spotting his father is quite easy, he’s sitting at one of the tables with Xiaobao shaking his ass in front of his face, Kyungsoo is ecstatic to see him having so much fun.

“So, what do you think?” Kyungsoo walks up to their table, 

“You!” His father shouts and points at him, Xiaobao’s face is morphed by shock when he puts two and two together, he quietly runs away and goes to look for someone else to dance for, “You’re a madman, this has to be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Kyungsoo takes a seat at the table and nods at his brother and at the corgi in his lap, “And this is only the beginning.” he crosses his legs and rests his back on the chair, feeling confident, feeling right.

“You really are your father’s son!” He slaps his own thigh and downs the dark liquor in the shot glass in front of him, “Going to these lengths for a joke, you’re a real madman!”

“A joke?” Kyungsoo laughs, confusion creeps at the back of his mind.

“Yeah, I respect it!” His father raises his hands, “I bought this place to make fun of you and you turned it into this to make fun of me, you won this one!” 

Kyungsoo moves nervously in his chair, he tugs at his jacket, suddenly feeling the need to cower in himself, “This isn’t a joke, I worked really hard on this place.”

“Come on, I got it! I already told you, you won, what more do you want?!” he continues laughing, but Kyungsoo can’t mirror the sentiment. 

“Dad, this really isn’t a joke, I wanted to show you I…” What exactly did he want to show him? Did he want him to be proud of him? Why was he so sure his dad would have just accepted this? Accepted him?

The person in front of him seems like a stranger.

He must have picked up on Kyungsoo’s inner turmoil because his laughter, as well as the ones of his collaborators, die down. The only person who has kept a straight face through the entire thing is Baekhyun, his eyes have been on Kyungsoo the entire time. Kyungsoo turns to look at him for reassurance, but he doesn’t say anything. What could he even say, really.

“I think it’s better if we talk about this tomorrow. With a fresh mind.” His dad stands up and waits as someone helps him wear his coat. His gaze feels like ice on Kyungsoo’s heated face.

It’s almost two in the morning when Kyungsoo gets to lock the front door of _Mirage_ , take a good look at its unlit sign and just for a moment ask himself what he’s gotten himself into.

And it's almost eight in the morning when his alarm goes off and he is grateful to be able to wake up in Yixing's arms.

"The alarm, baby." Yixing's groggy morning voice whispers in his ear, but instead of pushing Kyungsoo out of bed he holds him closer.

"I'm sorry, we had plans yesterday." Yixing shushes him and pushes his face deeper in his chest,

"Don't say that." 

"I have to get up." Kyungsoo says eventually and reaches blindly behind himself to turn off the annoying ringing coming from his phone.

"I'll go with you." Yixing follows him out of bed and into the kitchen, they keep their voices hushed, not to disturb the other three people in the house.

"You don't have to." Kyungsoo scowls as he prepares some coffee.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to." Yixing drapes himself over Kyungsoo's back, "I'll kick your dad's ass."

Kyungsoo snorts, "Stop it…"

"I'll beat him up, I don't care." Kyungsoo laughs at his exaggerated shrugging, he keeps up his joking tone as he continues, "I'll key his car."

"Okay, okay you can come, but don't key his car."

It takes them thirty minutes to reach his father's house. This is the apartment where he spends most of the year, since Shanghai is the core of his business, but he also moves around often, usually with short trips to Seoul and Guangzhou.

Kyungsoo has lived in this apartment for most of his life too, although, stepping into the elevator and seeing it reach the twelfth floor now feels foreign.

He walks on autopilot to the familiar door and pauses in front of it. Yixing takes his hand in his hold and helps ease some of his anxiety.

He rings the bell and waits for the door to open, under these circumstances using his own keys doesn't feel right.

"Hi, Kyungsoo!" Sooyoung, his dad's girlfriend opens the door and welcomes them. Kyungsoo frowns at Yixing immediately letting go of his hand as she appears.

He waits patiently as Yixing takes off his shoes and looks around himself at the pieces of contemporary art and the design furniture.

"This house looks like it's right out of a magazine!" He whispers, "Now I get why you're fine living in a hotel room."

"I prefer living in your messy house, though." Kyungsoo responds with a full voice and takes back Yixing's hand when he reprimands him with a stuttered _shut up!_

"In the office!" His dad's voice booms through the house, Kyungsoo tightens his old on Yixing's hand as he walks them to their destination.

Kyungsoo sees his dad's eyes move between the two of them and at their linked hands, but he doesn't comment, "Good morning." he greets.

"Good morning." Yixing and Kyungsoo greet him as well.

"I believe we haven't been introduced," he extends his hand towards Yixing, "I'm Doh Insung."

"My name is Zhang Yixing, I've been working with your son during this past month." Yixing shakes his hand.

"He is-" Kyungsoo starts and is immediately interrupted.

"Well, I'm sorry you're here to hear what I am about to say." His father says, making Kyungsoo want to ask Yixing to leave, but he doesn't get the chance to do it, "You've actually been a… Gay this whole time and never thought to tell me?" Kyungsoo knows what word he was about to use, strange that he would stop himself from saying it, seeing as he's never done it before.

"Is that the problem?" Kyingsoo wishes it were, to be honest; it's dumb and disrespectful to him and his privacy, but not as bad as what his father is probably actually thinking.

"Turn down the attitude, you've embarrassed me in front of everyone yesterday night."

"In front of who?" this makes more sense,

"Cheng, Hong, Huang, they were all there to see you get teary eyed because I didn't like your dumb little gay club."

"I thought you said you had fun…"

"Before I knew it was for real, sure." His father shakes his head, Yixing clasps his hand tighter.

Kyungsoo's breath is knocked out of him as if he were punched in the stomach, he is so immensely disappointed.

"So, is this all you had to tell me? Or do you want to sign me up to conversion therapy before I go back?"

"I told you to keep down the attitude." His father doesn't smile, doesn't laugh, he looks and feels completely like a different person.

"I made a few decisions, while waiting for you to get here. He produces a piece of paper from one of his drawers, "First of all, You're going to Seoul, you'll stay with your mother and work at the family restaurant we got inside that amusement park, second the club is up for sale and I'm looking forward to regaining all of the money you threw into it."

"That money was mine." Kyungsoo stands up, he slams his hand on his father's desk.

"Yours? Where did it come from, though?"

"Is this really all you think of me?" Kyungsoo's throat is itchy, it stings as he tries to control himself. His father doesn't even look at him.

"We're done here." his father says without an ounce of emotion, “Your cards will stay blocked until you get to Korea, so don’t get any more weird ideas.”

Yixing stands up too, Kyungsoo feels him tug his arm and finally pull him towards the entrance.

Without saying anything, Yixing helps Kyungsoo in the passenger's side and gets the keys out of his pocket to drive them home.

Kyungsoo covers his eyes for the entire ride, not wanting to let Yixing see him cry again.

Breaking the news to Junmyeon feels horrible, it's even worse when he has to repeat it to everyone else. 

In less than forty eight hours they've all experienced extreme highs and unforgiving lows.

Yixing stays by his side, but he can't tell what he is thinking. Maybe he is cursing him or pitying him. Maybe he is feeling like he should have never gotten himself involved with him.

Kyungsoo lies awake on the night of the first of November, what was supposed to be the day of their second performance has turned into a sad night of silence and nightmares. 

Mirages aren't meant to last long.

He ended up falling asleep, he doesn't remember when it happened, but he is woken up by his phone ringing, "Kyungsoo, it's Minseok."

"Hey," Kyungsoo moves the phone from his ear to look at the time and then greets him, “Good morning.”

"I was thinking about what you told us the other day and I thought… Why don't you just buy the club?" Minseok proposes,

Kyungsoo sits on the bed, Yixing moves to circle his arms around his waist, "I don't have any money." he thinks back at his father's words, at the look at his face while reducing the money Kyungsoo has earned during his training as nothing more than pocket money.

"Oh, yeah I guess that would be the case now…" Minseok's voice trails off, "I have money saved, I could-"

"No, please. Don't use the money you've earned for this… I'm sure anyone who'll buy the club will be able to treat you better than I did." He tries to reassure him.

"But you were a huge part of our success and now what are you going to do? Just gonna go away?"

"I am as disappointed as you are." 

  
  


◊

  
  


Yixing listens in the conversation, he can't make out most of what Minseok is saying, but he has a good guess on the topic.

His eyes linger on the small backpack where Kyungsoo shoved all the belongings he had been keeping in his hotel room, before coming back here.

Yixing knows if it were his dad talking to him in that way he would have gotten his things and ran away. That's what he's done with his grandpa and he still regrets it. So he doesn't say anything when it seems clear that Kyungsoo has already decided to do exactly what his dad told him.

Throughout the entire morning and into the early afternoon Kyungsoo's phone never stops ringing. Yixing takes a break from his dish washing to ask him about it,

"Why do they keep calling?"

Kyungsoo hesitates, when Yixing turns to look at him, Kyungsoo stares at him, seemingly weighing his options.

"I don't know if I should tell you, because you might agree with them." 

"I am going to find out either way…" Yixing puts his hands back in the soapy water and continues the washing.

"Minseok, Junmyeon and Xiaobao have all called to offer their money to make me buy the club… But why would _I_ be the one to buy it if I can't contribute…" Yixing turns again to see the reason why he stopped talking, "I still have the watch."

"No, we'll find the money in other ways." Yixing thinks immediately at his drawers of gifts Huang Lei gave him over the years and that he’s never even used, "Your dad gave you that watch, you'll regret not having it anymore."

"I regret having to see it every day." Yixing scrunches his nose at his words,

"When I ran away from home I took with me none of the things grandpa gave me," Yixing turns off the stream of water in the sink and sits down. He wants Kyungsoo to hear him out, "I still regret it. I'll probably never see him again and all I have are my one sided memories." he takes Kyungsoo's hand.

"You know what my memories with my dad are?" Yixing's heart sinks at Kyungsoo's hurt shining through his features, he holds his hand tighter, "Even that watch… He had his driver drop it off the day I graduated."

Yixing closes his mouth, their experiences differ too much, nothing he says will make Kyungsoo reconsider.

The way things move after that is fast, but also insufferably slow at the same time.

Kyungsoo sells his watch and his suit for a sum of money that seems to please him, since he never mentions Seoul or his dad ever again.

Yixing does the same with all the jewelry he was sitting on, he gifts a piece each to his young roommates, something they can keep and sell if the time ever requires it. He also adds to the pile a conspicuous part of the money he earned as a sex worker.

Minseok and Xiaobao contribute as well, Kyungsoo fights with Junmyeon because he doesn't want him to spend any more of his money for the club, but it goes inside one of his ears and right out of the other.

They are close to reaching the amount of money they're asking for the club, but none of them has anything more to give.

"What do we do?" Junmyeon messes nervously with his face. 

They're all sitting around Yixing's table, looking down at their own empty hands.

"We should make an offer." Kyungsoo proposes,

"Damn it, if we had access to the money we earned on Halloween…" Xiaobao covers his face, "All that work and your fucking dad took all our money."

Yixing turns to look at Kyungsoo, his jaw is clenched and his nostrils flared, the anger he is repressing seems ready to explode.

In a second, right under Yixing's eyes he changes. His shoulders slump and his muscles relax.

"I guess this is it."

Yixing scoots his chair closer to him, he grabs his arms and his face, wanting to look at him, "Don't say that,” Yixing searches his mind quickly, looking for a solution and it comes to him in no time, “I'm sure if I asked Huang Lei, he would have no problems lending us that much money."

Kyungsoo's disappointment seems to worsen, but he nods without saying anything.

He only voices out his thoughts when they're alone in the bedroom and Yixing is half asleep in his arms.

"Huang Lei really saved us." His hold on Yixing loosens,

"I can tell you're trying to keep something to yourself, but you're not doing a good job at it. Hurry up and let it out." Yixing’s gets out lazily, his voice struggles keeping up with his brain,

"It's nothing." Kyungsoo rolls on his side, turns his back at Yixing, "I just hope one day I'll be able to compare."

Yixing springs off the mattress, suddenly awake. He forces Kyungsoo to roll back in his previous position and look at him directly.

"Not only you compare to him, but you've already gone beyond." He smiles and pulls the sides of Kyungsoo's lips to make him do the same, "I don't care how much money you have or how old you are. No one does, we all cared to have you with us because it's you."

Kyungsoo tilts his head and squints his eyes at him, he thinks Yixing won't be able to tell he's getting emotional. Yixing lays down on him and hugs him tightly, "I can't wait to get back to work." and smiles as Kyungsoo hugs him back and kisses him.

  
  


◊

  
  


"W-What did you just say?!" Kyungsoo looks at his brother's head suddenly rising up and covering the new portrait of his corgis. The lone dog has now been exchanged for a couple and five little puppies. All of them are currently running and playing in his brother's office.

"I said… I'm getting married." Kyungsoo clears his throat and repeats himself. He pulls the fabric of his jacket, it's become a bit of a nervous tic.

"Have you proposed?" Baekhyun circles the desk and sits down on the other uncomfortable navy armchair.

"No, I called his grandpa yesterday, he seemed really happy, so I'll do it after I'm done here… If you want to come…" Kyungsoo scratches the back of his head, even if they've become a lot closer, expressing his emotions is still a bit embarrassing.

"Of course! Let's go!"

Baekhyun can't stop speaking for the entire car ride, but Kyungsoo is grateful for it, because it helps him not to get too much in his head.

When they reach _Mirage_ Kyungsoo spots Nini holding Minseok's hand, Sehun and Tao all waiting outside. Except for Minseok, they've all stopped working here, but they still are their honorary children and none of them wanted to miss the event. 

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Kyungsoo breathes out and looks at the time just to see the watch Yixing gifted him.

"Maybe you should have asked this yourself a bit earlier!" Baekhyun laughs and hits his back, Kyungsoo smiles too,

"You're right… We've talked about it, but maybe it's too soon."

"Nonsense, you've been together for five years already, get your ass inside and prepare your knees." Baekhyun gets out of the car and loudly invites Kyungsoo to do the same.

The small crowd in front of the club shows him smiles and thumbs up. Kyungsoo does the same but he immediately pushes his hands back in the pockets of his coat to make sure he still has the small velvety box.

As he walks in he passes an extremely nervous Hyejin, Ten and Hansol, the young dancers that live with them in their new house; the other dancers, Xiaobao, Wohno, Gaigai and Tuzi seem to be in the same condition.

Yixing is behind the bar, checking the bottles and talking with Junmyeon.

Kyungsoo gulps loudly when Junmyeon smiles at him and quickly turns Yixing by his shoulders.

Yixing smiles when he spots him and then his expression changes when he seems to realize something's up.

Kyungsoo and Yixing's heartbeats boom in their chests. 

Yixing sees Nini, Zitao and Sehun trailing in and his hands start shaking.

"Wait…" Yixing circles the counter and gasps when Kyungsoo gets on his knee, "Wait!" he keeps repeating, but not even he knows for what.

Never in a million years he thought he would find himself in this position. He already thought it was amazing enough that Kyungsoo would stick with him for so long and now this…

"Yixing," Kyungsoo starts, he already looks like he's on the verge of tears so Yixing just offers his hand and shouts,

"Yes!"

Kyungsoo breathes out in relief and gets back on his feet. His hands shake as he puts the ring on Yixing's finger and he jumps afraid when the cork of a champagne bottle shoots over their heads. Everyone around them shouts and claps their hands.

Kyungsoo and Yixing bask in the warmth around them and in the love pouring out of them, the adoration they hold in their eyes only for each other.

This happiness might seem like a Mirage in the middle of a dry desert, but as Yixing and Kyungsoo hold each other and all the people close to them, they are sure they've found their way to a real oasis.


End file.
